The racial politics of immigration are highly contested in Europe. Ten new countries entered the European Union in May, 2004, and the current membership states expect an increased influx of immigrants from these new member states. The growing numbers of immigrants will also affect neighboring non-EU nations, such as Norway. This research project examines the growing number of Polish immigrants in Norway, and the ways in which their positions in the labor market are being structured. The project investigates the ways that Norwegian employers perceive of Polish immigrants as workers, as well as how Polish immigrants in Norway navigate the norms of belonging and exclusion that shape their employment. More specifically, it analyzes the ways in which Polish transnational immigrant networks mediate the ways that immigrants find and get jobs in Norway. The project's combination of geographic literature on race with theories of immigrant social networks is directed at showing how exclusionary practices play out in the labor market. Based on in-depth fieldwork in Oslo, Norway and Warsaw, Poland, the project utilizes a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The empirical data collected on the rapidly globalizing labor markets of Norway and Poland are geared towards revising the conceptual underpinnings of assimilation theory.
This project will provide insight into social science and policy understandings of the racial politics of immigration. Findings from this study will direct attention specifically to the needs of Polish immigrants in Norway, and will inform immigration policy- makers about the ways that transnational social networks influence migration and labor market processes. By studying white immigrant minorities, the classical conception of race will be broadened to include this new and growing immigrant population. The research will direct the attention of researchers and social services agencies toward the racial politics of employment among groups of immigrant minorities that tend to be overlooked.
