The Interplay Between Structure and Agency

This chapter delves into the tension between structure and agency through my personal journey as a migrant academic in the UK. It begins with a defining moment in 2018 when, as a young Polish scholar, I was invited to speak at the BASEES Women’s Forum – while also navigating pregnancy and the challenges of academia as an Eastern European migrant. Reflecting on my academic background, where individual agency was emphasised, and contrasting it with the British socio-legal tradition’s focus on structural forces, I explore how migration complicates this divide. Drawing on my research with Polish migrants in the UK, I consider how epistemological belonging requires balancing systemic constraints with personal agency. Ultimately, this chapter offers a reflection on how these tensions shape both scholarship and identity in multicultural academic spaces.