Derek McGhee - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Derek McGhee

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2021

Drawing on a mix-methods study comprised of an online questionnaire and semi-structured interview... more Drawing on a mix-methods study comprised of an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, this article presents findings about the complexity and development in time of health service use by Polish migrants living in the United Kingdom. The article contributes to the analysis of transnational healthcare practices by operationalising a framework that considers service access within and beyond national borders, and between private and public sectors. By categorising engagements with healthcare providers based on their occurrence in time it argues for an understanding of transnational healthcare as a process. It finds that Polish migrants manage their health by accessing a variety of different providers. This complexity is also reflected in the multiple ways in which access to services with regards to specific health issues unfolds in time. By focusing the analysis on specific health issues rather than individuals the article finds that multiple ways to access healthcare services coexist for the same participant, who does not necessarily move towards particular healthcare providers unitarily, but adopts ad hoc solutions on the basis of their experiences within specific medical areas. Understanding migrants' patterns of accessing healthcare can contribute to more effective policy solutions supporting migrants in the UK today.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2017

View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 22 View citing articles An 'undelibera... more View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 22 View citing articles An 'undeliberate determinacy'? The changing migration strategies of Polish migrants in the UK in times of Brexit

International Migration Review, 2018

Intra-EU migrants have traditionally faced few pressures or incentives to formalize their “perman... more Intra-EU migrants have traditionally faced few pressures or incentives to formalize their “permanent” residence or to naturalize in their EU host countries. Focusing on the United Kingdom and combining an analysis of secondary administrative data and primary online survey data ( N = 1,413), this article examines practices and attitudes toward such legal integration in the context of the 2016 EU Referendum among five major EU nationality groups. The analysis reveals that British citizenship is the main legal mechanism of integration among intra-EU migrants in the United Kingdom and that while there is continuity in this respect with pre-Brexit processes, Brexit also has a strong but differential effect as a driver of legal integration. The article identifies some of the main decision-influencing factors shaping legal integration, making a significant contribution to understanding the complexities of integrative processes in times of radical structural change.

Citizenship Studies, 2016

Population, Space and Place, 2015

In this article, we examine post-accession Poles' shifting identity practices through the lens of... more In this article, we examine post-accession Poles' shifting identity practices through the lens of their attitudes to other Poles in a high-density post-accession Polish migration destination, namely the city of Southampton on England's south coast. We examine the impact of human capital (in this instance, we will focus on their ability to speak English) and the extent of their social capital (focusing on the restrictions based on their communicative competence with non-Polish groups and their particular trust issues associated with compatriots). We contextualise our findings in other research on post-accession Poles in London, Glasgow, the Midlands of England, the North of England, the Netherlands, Norway, and Brussels, thus drawing together common themes from a wide body of evidence. Through examining biographical data focusing on the everyday lives of our participants, we were able to explore the impact of context on their presentation of their identities and relational practices. By so doing, we exposed the interplay of a range of intersecting factors that result in many of our participants leading restrictive and restricted lives.

Families, Relationships and Societies, 2013

The focus of this article is on individual case studies selected for the purpose of illuminating ... more The focus of this article is on individual case studies selected for the purpose of illuminating the experiences of post-accession Polish migrant ‘family lives’ in the United Kingdom (UK). These case studies demonstrate what Morgan (1996) calls the movement of individuals through households and family relationships, simultaneous with the examination of the enlargement of the spaces in which family lives are conducted as a consequence of movement across the ‘open borders’ between the UK and Poland (Ryan, 2010). The focus is on how the interviewees’ articulated what they presented to us as the impact of particular structural constraints (in terms of education, pensions, childcare and employment) on their future plans to settle in the UK or return to Poland. However, the main focus of the article is the relationship between these structural constraints and the tensions associated with fulfilling competing familial obligations in the UK and in Poland.

Sociological Research Online, 2011

This paper compares and contrasts some of the conceptual language used to engage with the realm o... more This paper compares and contrasts some of the conceptual language used to engage with the realm of family and personal life within the parallel fields of transnational family studies (TFS) and British family studies (BFS). Key concepts which are now widely referenced within BFS - such as ‘family practices’, ‘family display’, ‘families of choice’ and ‘connectedness' - have not been widely drawn upon within TFS. Instead, TFS scholars are developing alternative concepts such as ‘ways of being' versus ‘ways of belonging' and ‘frontiering and relativising’, often to capture very similar ideas to those current within BFS. This paper critically explores some of the concepts currently being used within transnational family studies, highlighting points of similarity and difference with the BFS tradition, and considers what these parallel literatures might learn from each other. The paper is illustrated by examples drawn from ESRC-funded research on the experiences of post-accessi...

Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2013

Glasgow is a city well known for bringing together a ‘housing need’ with a ‘housing supply’. Post... more Glasgow is a city well known for bringing together a ‘housing need’ with a ‘housing supply’. Post-accession Poles are the most recent population to fill the ‘void’ in Glasgow's ‘unpopular’ and therefore low-demand housing in areas of social deprivation. In this paper we will focus on the intersection of individual paths with institutional projects occurring at specific temporal and spatial locations: through examining the housing-seeking activities of migrants and the low-demand accommodation letting activities of, for example, the Glasgow Housing Association. In the paper we examine the meanings, processes, experiences, and perceived advantages (for migrant families and for housing associations) and also the disadvantages associated with post-accession Polish families taking up and being potentially ‘steered’ into tenancies in particular areas of Glasgow.

Sociological Research Online, 2001

In this paper the legal institutional practices whereby refugee statuses are determined is subjec... more In this paper the legal institutional practices whereby refugee statuses are determined is subjected to examination through the vehicle of cases where homosexuality has been the basis of the application for refugee status. What emerges in this article is a narrative of homosexuals being excluded from and eventually included in refugee status in the United Kingdom. This narrative is played out within the discursive context of a particular definition of refugee status, namely, that of being a member of a persecuted social group. It is through the analysis of refugee case law in the United Kingdom and internationally that homosexuality is presented, as providing specific problems for refugee law in terms of whom, and in what circumstances, should be included in the ‘social group’ category. In this paper it will be demonstrated that homosexual cases are significant in relation to the attempt to overcome ‘exclusive definitions’ of ‘persecuted social groups’ in refugee law. This is eviden...