Claire Louise Boden: “Belonging after ‘Brexit’? Exploring the effects of political uncertainty in the everyday lives of young Poles”

In Students by General Account

My research will explore the relationship between political uncertainty and belonging by considering what it means to be a young polish migrant in ‘Brexit Britain’. It will address the impact of ‘Brexit’ and the accompanying anti-migrant narrative, exploring to what extent this creates a barrier to belonging for young Poles. It will examine their everyday lives considering their location in translocal/transnational networks and it will seek to understand what ‘belonging’ means for young migrants.
The narratives surrounding Brexit are in a constant state of flux as new empirical research is always emerging and seeking to analyse, explain and contextualise the political, social and economic conditions that characterise ‘Brexit Britain’. Defining ‘Brexit Britain’ is increasingly difficult; evidence points to the critical nature of place as it intersects with race and class, demonstrating the need for a regional and local analysis of the Brexit campaign and its impact.
Prior to my PhD, I studied a BSc in Media, Communications and Society at the University of Leicester and then worked in varying roles with young people in the UK, before spending five years working in education in Australia. I returned to the UK in 2016 and completed the MA in Sociology and Social Research at Newcastle University.