Papers by Kate Botterill
Social and Cultural Geography, 2017
This paper uses a framework of ‘ontological security’ to discuss the psycho-social strategies of ... more This paper uses a framework of ‘ontological security’ to discuss the psycho-social strategies of self-securitization employed by ethnic and religious minority young people in Scotland. We argue that broad discourses of securitization are present in the everyday risks and threats that young people encounter. In response and as resistance young people employ pre-emptive and pro-active strategies to preserve ontological security. Yet, these strategies are fraught with ambivalence and contradiction as young people withdraw from social worlds or revert to essentialist positions when negotiating complex fears and anxieties. Drawing on feminist geographies of security the paper presents a multi-scalar empirical analysis of young people’s everyday securities, connecting debates on youth and intimacy-geopolitics with the social and cultural geographies of young people, specifically work that focuses upon young people’s negotiations of racialized, gendered and religious landscapes.
Political Geography, 2016
This paper explores ethnic and religious minority youth perspectives of security and nationalism ... more This paper explores ethnic and religious minority youth perspectives of security and nationalism in Scotland during the independence campaign in 2014. We discuss how young people co-construct narratives of Scottish nationalism alongside minority ethnic and faith identities in order to feel secure. By critically combining literatures from feminist geopolitics, international relations (IR) and children's emotional geographies, we employ the concept of 'ontological security'. The paper departs from state-centric approaches to security to explore the relational entanglements between geopolitical discourses and the ontological security of young people living through a moment of political change. We examine how everyday encounters with difference can reflect broader geopolitical narratives of security and insecurity, which subsequently trouble notions of 'multicultural nationalism' in Scotland and demonstrate ways that youth 'securitize the self' (Kinnvall, 2004).
Population Space and Place, 2016
This article explores the lifestyle mobilities of British retirees in Thailand, drawing on empiri... more This article explores the lifestyle mobilities of British retirees in Thailand, drawing on empirical research conducted in 2012. Thailand is host to a significant number of British retirees motivated by a search for a better lifestyle in Asia. This pursuit of mobility for lifestyle reasons, rather than economic gain or work, implies a relative privilege involving a range of choices and opportunities. For many, the lifestyle achieved in Thailand is perceived as mediating negative effects of ageing and enhancing wellbeing. However, the material challenges of lifestyle mobility in Thailand, such as frozen pensions, healthcare costs and property insecurity, destabilise an initial optimism and lead to feelings of entrapment and immobility in relation to state policy and practice. The article argues for a relational framing of lifestyle mobility as a means of understanding and analysing the differential experience of privilege and precarity in semi- or postcolonial locations.
Forum: Qualitative Research, 2015
This article offers a reflexive account of conducting research on Polish migration to Scotland fr... more This article offers a reflexive account of conducting research on Polish migration to Scotland from the perspective of the "outsider." The contribution argues for a revision to the insider/outsider dichotomy viewing it as inadequately nuanced in relation to the multiple intersectionalities performed through the research encounter. It is based on data collected from biographical-narrative interviews with Polish young people living in Edinburgh, Scotland. The article explores the interview encounter between an English researcher and Polish young people about the experience of EU mobility and argues that as migration narratives unfold the distinctions between the "researcher" and the "researched" blur. In particular, I focus on the intersections of gender, class and nationality to show how different positionalities are negotiated and confronted through reflexivity. The interview is a creative process involving co-construction of narratives through dialogue, embodied performances and non-cognitive associations that draw out the multiple intersectionalities of both parties. Through this process the binary of insider/outsider is called into question and this article examines the usefulness of this dichotomy as a framework for understanding the research relationship.
Sociology, 2014
This article revisits the individualization debate in the context of Polish migration to the UK. ... more This article revisits the individualization debate in the context of Polish migration to the UK. Drawing on empirical research with young Polish migrants in Scotland and Poland, I argue that as new opportunities for migration have shaped Polish family life, the family plays ideological, affective and practical roles in shaping and supporting young people's mobilities. The pursuit of an apparently individualistic, mobile life in the context of post-accession Polish mobility is confounded by the persistence of family structures and relations that underpin and shape individual decisions and mobility pathways. I discuss three 'ruptures' to the individualization thesis ) that relate to the process of migration over the lifecourse: 'moving out', 'keeping in touch', and 'coming back'. Through these discussions I argue that individual mobility is a relational process and one that can, and should, be analysed alongside family structures rather than separate from it.
Studia Migracyne-Przeglad Polonijny (special issue), 2011
‘Mobility’ is a zeitgeist of the European Union. European enlargement and the removal of borders ... more ‘Mobility’ is a zeitgeist of the European Union. European enlargement and the removal of borders in Central and Eastern Europe has reinvigorated geographical mobility in Europe while the extension of neo-liberal economic reform across the region has been said to offer opportunities for social mobility to a new demography. The right to spatial and social mobility in the EU is described as enhancing freedom, opportunity and choice for large numbers of people living in Central and Eastern Europe, yet the reality for many people living and working across borders in the EU is marked still by poverty, uncertainty and immobility. How do we conceptualise this inequality within a discourse of ‘free movement’ and ‘equality of opportunity’ in Europe? In this paper I will discuss theories of mobility that have shaped the discourse on mobility and immobility in the EU in recent times. I will explore the ways in which this discourse has contributed to an almost immutable acceptance of the EU as a ‘mobile space’. Adding to this I will present some early empirical findings from case studies in the Edinburgh, Scotland and Krakow, Poland to show that the everyday experiences of young Polish people who negotiate the invisible borders of the EU to find ‘opportunities’ has many dimensions, raising further questions about how ‘mobility’ is perceived and enacted by young Polish people living and working in the UK.
MOBILNOŚĆ I „NIE-MOBILNOŚĆ” W UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ: DOŚWIADCZENIE POLSKIEJ MŁODZIEŻY ZAMIESZKAŁEJ W ZJEDNOCZONYM KRÓLESTWIE
Mobilność to zeitgeist Unii Europejskiej. Poszerzenie UE i zniesienie granic w Euro- pie Wschodniej i Środkowej odrodziło skalę mobilności; jednocześnie liberalne reformy mają teoretycznie zapewnić możliwość mobilności społecznej nowym populacjom. Prawo do przestrzennej i społecznej mobilności w obrębie Unii opisywane jest często jako poszerzające przestrzeń wolności, możliwości i wyboru; jednocześnie jednak dla sporej liczby mieszkańców Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej rzeczywistość jest nieco odmienna, nadal naznaczona biedą, niepewnością i nie-mobilnością. W jaki sposób możemy pogo- dzić ów dysonans między „swobodą przepływu osób” a równością szans? W niniejszym artykule autorka omawia różne teorie mobilności, które wpływały na dyskursy dotyczące mobilności i nie-mobilności w Europie. Artykuł przedstawia również wstępne wyniki jej własnych badań w Edynburgu i Krakowie, ukazujące różnorodność codziennych doświadczeń migrującej polskiej młodzieży która negocjuje niewidzialne granice spo- łeczne i kulturowe w celu poszerzenia przestrzeni możliwości.
Since the accession of A8 and A2 member states to the EU in 2004 and 2007, labour mobility across... more Since the accession of A8 and A2 member states to the EU in 2004 and 2007, labour mobility across borders has intensified with large numbers of migrant workers seeking economic and social opportunities in member states other than their home country. In particular, it is widely held that the UK is one of the major „receiving‟ states for migrant workers from the post-socialist world. Policy directions have been focussed either around encouraging migrant workers to fill labour shortages in the UK or around the integration of migrants into communities and neighbourhoods once they have arrived, using a demand led, responsive approach. The degree of social mobility amongst these migrant workers is not widely discussed, nor is it commonly studied using a transnational frame of reference which sees migrants as maintaining links to their home communities and traditions after they have moved (Basch et al., 1992). Studies on social mobility have tended to be viewed through a national lens, often comparing states and their levels of social mobility (Breen, 2004), but rarely acknowledging the transnational dimension. This overlooks complex social networks across state borders and the important social and cultural capital involved in these exchanges. I posit that transnational networks of migrant workers have a dynamic effect on relative social mobility, whereby notions of class, occupational and social status shift based on interactions between home and host community. Improving knowledge and understanding of these networks could help to inform further policy development around the integration and settlement of migrant workers in the UK, contributing to equality of opportunity and social justice for those often living at the margins of society.
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This paper will explore the literature around transnational migrant networks and social mobility, providing a review of existing discourse with a hope of stimulating debate around future research directions in transnational migration. It will also provide an overview of current policy debates concerning migration management, considering how far the social mobility of migrants features at a policy level.
Book Reviews by Kate Botterill
Gender, Place and Culture
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Papers by Kate Botterill
MOBILNOŚĆ I „NIE-MOBILNOŚĆ” W UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ: DOŚWIADCZENIE POLSKIEJ MŁODZIEŻY ZAMIESZKAŁEJ W ZJEDNOCZONYM KRÓLESTWIE
Mobilność to zeitgeist Unii Europejskiej. Poszerzenie UE i zniesienie granic w Euro- pie Wschodniej i Środkowej odrodziło skalę mobilności; jednocześnie liberalne reformy mają teoretycznie zapewnić możliwość mobilności społecznej nowym populacjom. Prawo do przestrzennej i społecznej mobilności w obrębie Unii opisywane jest często jako poszerzające przestrzeń wolności, możliwości i wyboru; jednocześnie jednak dla sporej liczby mieszkańców Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej rzeczywistość jest nieco odmienna, nadal naznaczona biedą, niepewnością i nie-mobilnością. W jaki sposób możemy pogo- dzić ów dysonans między „swobodą przepływu osób” a równością szans? W niniejszym artykule autorka omawia różne teorie mobilności, które wpływały na dyskursy dotyczące mobilności i nie-mobilności w Europie. Artykuł przedstawia również wstępne wyniki jej własnych badań w Edynburgu i Krakowie, ukazujące różnorodność codziennych doświadczeń migrującej polskiej młodzieży która negocjuje niewidzialne granice spo- łeczne i kulturowe w celu poszerzenia przestrzeni możliwości.
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This paper will explore the literature around transnational migrant networks and social mobility, providing a review of existing discourse with a hope of stimulating debate around future research directions in transnational migration. It will also provide an overview of current policy debates concerning migration management, considering how far the social mobility of migrants features at a policy level.
Book Reviews by Kate Botterill
MOBILNOŚĆ I „NIE-MOBILNOŚĆ” W UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ: DOŚWIADCZENIE POLSKIEJ MŁODZIEŻY ZAMIESZKAŁEJ W ZJEDNOCZONYM KRÓLESTWIE
Mobilność to zeitgeist Unii Europejskiej. Poszerzenie UE i zniesienie granic w Euro- pie Wschodniej i Środkowej odrodziło skalę mobilności; jednocześnie liberalne reformy mają teoretycznie zapewnić możliwość mobilności społecznej nowym populacjom. Prawo do przestrzennej i społecznej mobilności w obrębie Unii opisywane jest często jako poszerzające przestrzeń wolności, możliwości i wyboru; jednocześnie jednak dla sporej liczby mieszkańców Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej rzeczywistość jest nieco odmienna, nadal naznaczona biedą, niepewnością i nie-mobilnością. W jaki sposób możemy pogo- dzić ów dysonans między „swobodą przepływu osób” a równością szans? W niniejszym artykule autorka omawia różne teorie mobilności, które wpływały na dyskursy dotyczące mobilności i nie-mobilności w Europie. Artykuł przedstawia również wstępne wyniki jej własnych badań w Edynburgu i Krakowie, ukazujące różnorodność codziennych doświadczeń migrującej polskiej młodzieży która negocjuje niewidzialne granice spo- łeczne i kulturowe w celu poszerzenia przestrzeni możliwości.
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This paper will explore the literature around transnational migrant networks and social mobility, providing a review of existing discourse with a hope of stimulating debate around future research directions in transnational migration. It will also provide an overview of current policy debates concerning migration management, considering how far the social mobility of migrants features at a policy level.