The Cultural Integration of Working Vietnamese People in Poland: An Analysis of Integration as the Process of Immigrants’ Lived Experience

Abstract

This article is devoted to investigating the cultural integration of working Vietnamese immigrants in Poland. This study approaches cultural integration as a process of lived experience, paying particular attention to immigrants’ agency. The migrant group is viewed as active actors who are able to develop motivations for integration into their host culture or reinforce their loyalty to their original culture through interactions with new living settings in their country of residence. This study also examined the role of transnationalism in the process of cultural integration. Qualitative analyses showed that the motivations for cultural integration are strongly shaped by the immigrants’ impression of proper cultural standards and their admiration of the performance of social institutions, modernization, and living conditions in Poland. Motivations for integration played a crucial role in fostering the migrant group’s cultural acquisition. Concurrently, the migrant group exposed their disinclination to internalize cultural standards that challenged their established worldviews formed by socialization and education in the home country. This reluctance happens due to the role of transnational ties by which the migrant group can carry and practice their original culture. Consequently, transnationalism results in cultural resistance, hindering the cultural integration of the migrant group in Poland.