Heads or hands? Differences and similarities between Polish students and labour immigrants

Abstract

Discussing the Polish presence in Leuven, Belgium, this article examines the concept of 'intellectual migration from Eastern Europe after 1989' on at least two levels. On the one hand, it analyzes the numbers of foreign students at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and shows that a Europeanization is taking place, not because of a growth in the number of Central Europeans students, but because of a drop in the number of Chinese students and a rise of students from Belgium's neighbouring countries. On the other hand, it compares this intellectual immigration from Poland with the larger and better known labour immigration. It appears that the categorization between heads and hands is certainly not absolute. Their paths were much more common than scholars and students suppose, with labour immigrants studying, students working, and many Poles from different classes maintaining contact with each other.