Paper short abstract:

Based on ongoing fieldwork with Romanians in London, this paper unpacks the material practices and moral decisions that go into circumventing regulations during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. It asks how these decisions affect migrants’ ordinary lives and how they relate to one another.

Paper long abstract:

In the wake of summer with reduced regulations, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic saw cases steadily rising in most of the United Kingdom, notably the capital. What started as a tiered system of regional restrictions soon turned into a national lockdown, curtailing both local and international mobilities. Based on ongoing ethnographic fieldwork, this paper analyses the changes in patterns of relatedness between Romanian migrants in London during these periods of heightened restrictions. It interrogates how Romanians engage with and at times transgress the legal and social norms related to the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. This paper follows the intersections of class, gender, and processes of racialisation reflected in migrants’ rule transgressions. It unpacks how racialised and gendered bodies navigate regulations to avoid detection and fulfill social expectations. Rule-breaking follows and at times reshapes kinship and gender norms for Romanians in London, posing a strain on migrants’ ties with family and friends. Deciding who to visit, engaging in new forms of reciprocity, and avoiding physical contact significantly alter how migrants relate to one another. In turn, the pandemic impacts the broader landscape of migrant belonging by relating to their rule transgressions. In my interlocutors’ eyes, the sliding scale of respecting regulations becomes intertwined with class and race to evaluate who constitutes a 'good' Romanian. Overall, by focusing on migrants’ experiences of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, this paper outlines how rule transgressions contribute to changes in relatedness between Romanians in London.