Polina Manolova, PXM264@student.bham.ac.uk 

Polina Manolova is a Doctoral Researcher in the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies, University of Birmingham, UK. Her ethnographical research project investigates the reasons behind Bulgarian migration to the UK. By focusing on the role of the imagination in migration decision-making and the attraction of the image of ‘the West’, as outlined in migrants’ narratives, her research puts the emphasis on non-economic factors determining movement. Polina’s academic interests are in the fields of Migration, Postsocialism, Sociology and Anthropology. She is a Teaching Fellow in Sociology in the University of Birmingham.