Participation of the Vietnamese Community in Poland in the Socio-Political Life at the Local Level: Present Situation and Prospects for the Future

Recently, the issue of intercultural relations between immigrants and the host society has been widely discussed. Taking into account the increasing spatial mobility of non-EU foreigners, it seems highly important to examinetheir relations with the host community on the local level.This article presents the results of the qualitative study conducted in the first quarter of 2014 in the Lesznowola municipality (Mazowieckieprovince, Piasecznodistrict) in Poland. It aims at analysing the situation of the Vietnamese community and its engagement in the local life of the municipality and examine attitudes of both Vietnamese and Poles towards prospects for granting local voting rights to migrants in Poland. Through several years of successful business and social cooperation, the Vietnamese immigrants have become a recognisablepart of the social landscape of the municipality. The degree of social and political participation at the local level on the part ofthe Vietnamese community has also increased, which can be observed, for example, through such practical indicator as cooperation with local educational institutions. Therefore, we can arguethat the Vietnamese community has been transforming itself from a marginalised and self-sufficient homogeneous group into more and more self-aware and active socio-political group of actors.