(Not) a good place to stay! – East European migrants’ experiences of settlement in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Scotland

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, we ask how migrants establish social relationships, attachments and feelings of belonging within and to disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Drawing on extensive qualitative research with East European migrants in Scotland, we explore empirically the material, relational and temporal aspects of experiences of settlement at the neighbourhood level. We consider the ways in which migrants encounter and assess the material and institutional realities of their neighbourhoods. We examine the social relationships which develop in place, paying attention to social and cultural distancing and mutual ‘othering’, which may run counter to the development of place-based bonds. We discuss the role of time and the processual and ambiguous nature of settlement. Importantly, in our analysis, we consider the possibility that theoretical frameworks developed specifically for understanding migrant experiences might overemphasise their uniqueness and risk overlooking similarities grounded in multi-scalar hierarchies of power, which cut across lines of ethnic or cultural difference. We draw on wider theories and studies of place-attachment, as well as migration studies theories of embedding and emplacement, to explore the ways in which our participants’ experiences may be understood as both similar to and different from more widely shared realities of life in deprived areas.