Drawing on scalar theory of locality and the concept of urban sociabilities, this paper discusses sociabilities, social encounters based on domains of commonality, between middling migrants and local inhabitants in three different settings in Poland. At the same time, however, the paper points out to the feeling of strangeness and otherness experienced by migrants due to cultural and social distance. In contrast to mainstream literature that concentrates on low-skilled migrants or elite professionals in global cities, the article focuses on middling migrants in two disempowered towns (Jelcz-Laskowice and Strzelin) and one city (Opole) within the Walbrzych Special Economic Zone in Poland. It shows the particularities of urban sociabilities in locations that lack well-established migrant communities and have peripheral status in the global economy. © 2019, The Author(s).

Incorporation High-skilled migrants Sociability Periphery Poland

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