Revisiting geographies of temporalities: The significance of time in migrant responses to Brexit

Abstract

In this article, we look at the role of time and temporalities in migrant responses to the result of the 2016 European Union referendum in the United Kingdom, that is, Brexit. Although some attention has been paid to affective “first reactions” to Brexit, less is known about how it is negotiated in a longer perspective. Here, we recognise that responses to Brexit are dynamic and prone to change. Therefore, it is crucial to explore practical rationalising alongside emotional reactions as two different, but equally relevant, responses. Using the example of Finnish and Polish migrants to Scotland, we show that time is central to making sense of Brexit and is used to negotiate uncertainty about legal status and the right to remain. In doing so, we revisit a wider gap in geography scholarship, which continues to underappreciate the temporal dimension in migration research.