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Agency of Migrant Youth in Hostile Sociopolitical Environments: Case Studies from Central Eastern Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Zsuzsanna Arendas

    (Democracy Institute, Central European University & Centre for Social Sciences, 1051 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Agnieszka Trąbka

    (SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, 03-815 Warsaw, Poland
    Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 31-007 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Vera Messing

    (Democracy Institute, Central European University & Centre for Social Sciences, 1051 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Marta Jadviga Pietrusińska

    (Institute of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, 03-815 Warsaw, Poland
    Faculty of Education, University of Warsaw, 00-927 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Dominika Winogrodzka

    (Institute of Social Sciences, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, 03-815 Warsaw, Poland)

Abstract

This paper compares the integration of third-country youth in Poland and Hungary in two Central Eastern European contexts characterized by a hostile sociopolitical environment for migrants, right-wing policies, illiberalism, and regression in various related policy areas. Our article is based on a three-year EU-funded research project that investigated the integration of migrant youth in precarious circumstances (MIMY). It uses data from qualitative interviews conducted with migrant youth and thus focuses on the migrant’s perspective while exploring how coping and navigating such hostile environments occurs. The analysis is based on the concept of migrant agency in extremely difficult and complex sociopolitical situations. Our findings highlight the particular importance of the latter in these hostile environments. We argue that while the withdrawal of the state from integration has created difficult contexts for migrant youth, they exhibit different forms of agency, enabling them to adapt to opportunity structures. While these forms of agency are important and real, the structural constraints imposed by hostile states’ anti-immigration and anti-integration attitudes significantly limit migrants’ options for coping with everyday life.

Suggested Citation

  • Zsuzsanna Arendas & Agnieszka Trąbka & Vera Messing & Marta Jadviga Pietrusińska & Dominika Winogrodzka, 2023. "Agency of Migrant Youth in Hostile Sociopolitical Environments: Case Studies from Central Eastern Europe," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:4:p:210-:d:1115568
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kate Pincock & Alexander Betts & Evan Easton-Calabria, 2021. "The Rhetoric and Reality of Localisation: Refugee-Led Organisations in Humanitarian Governance," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(5), pages 719-734, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Giuliani & Amalia Gilodi & Camillo Regalia & Jan Skrobanek & Birte Nienaber, 2023. "The Lives of Third-Country National Migrant Youth in Europe: Between Perceived Vulnerabilities and Available Resources," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-9, October.

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