The Internal Functioning of Immigrant Organisations. The Case of Polish Voluntary Associations in France

Abstract

The article presents the internal aspects of the social sub-system of non-profit and voluntary associations in France, whose members are people holding Polish and dual Polish-French citizenships as well as French people of Polish origin and who pursue the goals related to the presence of the Polish immigrant and post-immigrant communities in France. In relation with these organisations, the article provides answers to the following questions: 1) What are their decision-making structures? 2) How mobile are the members within the structures and where does the mobility stem from? 3) What is the cooperation like between the movers and shakers in a specific organisation? The conclusions have been based on data from five case studies and 48 individual in-depth interviews revolving around typologically diverse associations plus data obtained in the course of an institutional opinion poll, carried out among Polish immigrant organisations with an online CAWI questionnaire completed by members of the Polish diaspora in France.