Irish and Polish migration in comparative perspective

With globalisation proceeding, historians have displayed a considerable interest in migration and ethnicity. Master narratives of the nation state and of class formation have been replaced by post-modern and post-colonial deconstruction of identity and social inclusion. This book deals with two large European groups, the Irish and the Polish migrants, that were chosen because of a number of surface similarities. Ireland and Poland produced migrant groups with similar backgrounds, age structures and religious cultures. They were predominantly young and single, they mostly went into heavy industries, and they tended for the most part to distinctive forms of Catholizism. This book is about features that apparently compare both groups of migrants. It represents work in progress, and should be read as an incentive to undertake additional research into the worlds of migrants.