Imposed Invisibility: Unraveling Identities Through Negotiations of Categories among People Raised in Germany by Polish Parents

Abstract

While recent studies have focused extensively on the reflexive use of categories and methodologies in research on migrants and refugees, they have paid less attention to individuals whose parents are migrants. Previous studies have noted that the terms second generation migrants and migrant descendants are centered on migration, thereby homogenizing experiences and deepening social exclusion of the people they define. However, we have less understanding of research participants’ perceptions of these categories. Additionally, the focus of most research has been on non-white descendants of migrants, which risks aligning scientific discourse with mainstream narratives that problematize some groups while silencing others. This article bridges this gap by examining the perception of research categories among people raised in Germany by Polish parents. It presents interviewees’ negotiations of categories in the context of their status as an invisible minority as well as their access to various class resources. Drawing from autobiographical narrative interviews, the study first demonstrates how the positioning of interlocutors as invisible begins at the micro level through everyday interactions with the mainstream society and their families. It then reveals the mechanisms of this process: ascribing identifications, creating an anti-migrant environment, exerting pressure on integration, and limiting resources. It argues that invisibility limits interlocutors’ possibilities to negotiate a sense of belonging and express self-identification. Engaging participants in category negotiations and autobiographical narrative interviews, along with considering the class perspective, expands the space for reflecting on identity and helps to align categories with participants’ lived experiences.