Cultural implications of international migration flows: the case of Poland

Abstract

This article addresses the general problem of cultural change as a result of contemporary international migrations, and focuses on the Polish case. It examines the formative influence of current migration flows on the culture of the receiving country as well as the sending one. The article begins with a brief presentation of the structure of migration flows experienced by Poland, followed by the discussion of their impact on the sphere of culture. This discussion is organised according to the adopted basic theoretical categories, namely: "material culture", "social culture", and "symbolic culture". Special attention has been paid to the following problems: migration as a specific mode of entrepreneurship; patterns of behaviour in the migrant communities; new consumption models in the sending country; and change of the social values as a result of migration. The article utilises the relevant sociological and demographic studies on migration into and from Poland.