Kittens, Brexit, and Belonging: The Role of Animals in Polish Children's Transnational Lives

Migrant and ethnic minority children often navigate complex spaces of belonging, particularly in contexts where ties to their parents' homeland are significant. This paper focuses on the experiences of 9–11-year-old Polish children growing up in post-Brexit UK, where anti-immigration rhetoric and exclusionary policies have intensified the challenges of maintaining transnational ties. My research explores how these children negotiate their sense of identity and belonging by drawing on relationships that extend beyond human family and friends. Central to this process are the more-than-human connections they maintain with pets and farm animals, as well as the natural landscapes and material objects in Poland. For these children, animals serve as a vital link to their sense of home and family across national borders, helping to preserve their cultural identity despite the disruptions caused by Brexit. This presentation highlights how pets and animals play a pivotal role in children's emotional lives and sense of belonging, extending traditional concepts of family and home. It also examines how the hostile environment in the UK threatens to sever these more-than-human relationships, limiting the children’s ability to maintain meaningful transnational ties.