Agata Blaszczyk

Dr Agata Blaszczyk has been working for the Polish Emigration Research Unit at the Polish University Abroad (PUNO) in London. Agata’s research examines historical and cultural sources and meanings of exile and forced migration, as well as the significance of encampment, enclosures and forced settlement. The study explores the origins of Polish Displaced People (political refugees) and all aspects of their settlement, including the activity of the government agencies brought to life by the British after WW2. It explains the political implications of the passage of the Polish Resettlement Bill in March 1947 (the first ever British legislation dealing with mass immigration) and how the original refugees formed much of the Polish community as it exists today. Her publications include The resettlement of Polish refugees after the second world war – an article published in Forced Migration Review by Refugee Studies Centre University of Oxford Issue 54 (February 2017); The origins of the Polish Diaspora in the UK after the Second World War: Poles in the UK, an article in the post-conference publication: Brexit and Polonia: Challenges facing the Polish Community during the process of Britain leaving the European Union, by PUNO Press (2018); The Education of the Younger Generation of Polish Female Refugees in Post-War Britain. Secondary Grammar Schools for Girls – the Challenges of Resettlement, an article to be published by the Polish Review in “Gender and Nation” (Special Issue) in March 2024.