Homeland-Diaspora Relations in Flux

Surveying the Greek Diaspora in the UK

The expansion of imperial trade and the liberal economic climate in the British Empire in the early 19th century opened many opportunities for Greek merchants who settled in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff. In the course of the time, several trading families expanded their economic activities in shipping and finance and London emerged as the global center of the Greek shipping by the mid-20th century. In subsequent years, the UK became a very important destination for student migration and many Greeks found work in British universities and other professional occupations. Following the crisis, emigration flows from Greece have skyrocketed as the UK emerged as one of the most dynamic destinations of the new migration, second only to Germany, critically diversifying the Greek diaspora in the UK. Since the primary goal of the Greek Diaspora Project is to examine the profile of the Greek diaspora in the UK, in this presentation we focus on the main sociodemographic attributes of the Greek Diaspora in the UK and explore the characteristics of the recent migrants through the findings of a survey conducted in London in 2017 (EUMIGRE project). Concretely, we examine the motivations underlying migration decisions, the migrants’ plans for the future and the driving and restraining forces of diaspora engagement. Finally, we will present the research design and the main thematic categories of the online survey that will be conducted by the Greek Diaspora Project. Apart from the migration motives and the diaspora engagement we will examine the diaspora’s political attitudes and its beliefs regarding the economic crisis in Greece. Drawing from recent trends on the impact of the crisis in the political behavior of the Greeks we expect that the New Diaspora is more interested in Greek politics and claims higher political involvement.

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