Building a Future in Times of Crisis. Young, Highly Qualified Migrants in the UK

Abstract:

This paper explores the migration of young, highly qualified Spaniards in the context of the current financial crisis. Various data sources are taken into account to show that the UK is currently the main destination country for young Spanish migrants. Drawing on qualitative interview data, the paper discusses the two main themes occurring in Spanish participants’ narratives: a belief in progress and meritocratic ideals as well as a strong sense of political anger. Participants’ belief in progress, the paper argues, constitutes an ‘attitudinal capital’ that originates in the economic bonanza preceding the crisis. At the same time, the participants’ interviews contain traces of political protest discourses that stem from Spanish pressure groups and alternative media who are critical of the current conservative government. The paper concludes by pointing out that while for the time being migration trajectories of young Spaniards in the UK seem to be rather positive and characterised by the acquisition of human capital, their sense of political anger could potentially become problematic if the upward social mobility they aspire to remains inaccessible.