Inactive at Home – Inactive Abroad: Civic Participation of Polish Migrants

This paper examines the patterns of civic participation among Polish migrants in nine European countries. The study is based on an internet survey (with 5000 respondents) and qualitative research with activists and experts. The paper serves two principal research goals: (1) exploring formal civic participation in NGOs of the country of residence among the post-2004 Polish migrants, and (2) establishing the principal predictors of Polish migrants’ involvement in the host-country NGOs. Our research leads to two principal conclusions. Firstly, the level of civic activity before migration constitutes a crucial factor in predicting the propensity to engage with host-country NGOs after migration. Our results suggest a robust country-of-origin effect on the patterns of civic engagement abroad. Secondly, however, the likelihood of civic participation grows with time, i.e., the higher the length of stay, the higher the propensity to participate, suggesting the socialization process towards the host-country civic norms and away from the country-of-origin legacy.