ABSTRACT

This paper sets out to better understand the role of ethnic boundary dynamics in immigrant entrepreneurship, in particular in terms of intersections at the boundaries between ‘ethnic’ and ‘mainstream’ economies, internal differentiation within ethnic community boundaries, and the socially constructed nature of ethnic boundaries more broadly. To better account for these dynamics, we develop a Barthian perspective on immigrant entrepreneurship, building on and integrating Fredrik Barth’s work on entrepreneurship, ethnic boundaries, and spheres of value. A Barthian perspective shifts the analytic focus from the ethnic group to entrepreneurial activities and, by implication, to the ethnic boundary dynamics that these activities generate. We draw on ethnographic research conducted among immigrant Mennonite entrepreneurs in Belize, and identify three boundary dynamics among the Mennonites: bridging the boundary between Mennonite ethnicity and the wider Belizean society, stretching the boundaries of individual Mennonite communities, and allying across the boundaries between Mennonite communities. In developing a Barthian perspective, the contribution of our paper lies in developing a comprehensive framework for understanding the role of ethnic boundary dynamics in immigrant entrepreneurship, thereby also responding to calls for more micro-processual approaches to understanding the ‘mixed embeddedness’ of immigrant entrepreneurs in their ethnic community and the wider society contexts.

摘要

本文着眼于更好地理解族裔边界动态在移民企业家精神中的作用，特别是在“民族”和“主流”经济之间的交汇处，族裔社区边界内的内部分化以及族裔的社会建构性质方面边界更广泛。为了更好地说明这些动态，我们在Fredrik Barth关于企业家精神，种族边界和价值领域的工作的基础上，并将其融合起来，发展出了Barthian关于移民企业家精神的观点。Barthian的观点将分析重点从族群转移到企业家活动，并暗示这些活动产生的族裔边界动力。我们利用在伯利兹的门诺族移民企业家进行的人种学研究，并确定门诺人之间的三种边界动力：弥合门诺人族群与更广泛的伯利兹社会之间的界限，扩大单个门诺人社区的边界，以及跨越门诺人社区之间的边界。在发展Barthian观点的过程中，本文的贡献在于建立了一个全面的框架，以了解族裔边界动态在移民企业家精神中的作用，从而也回应了呼吁采取更多的微观过程方法来理解移民企业家的“混合嵌入”在他们的族裔社区和更广泛的社会环境中。并跨越门诺派社区之间的边界。在发展Barthian观点的过程中，本文的贡献在于建立了一个全面的框架，以了解族裔边界动态在移民企业家精神中的作用，从而也回应了呼吁采取更多的微观过程方法来理解移民企业家的“混合嵌入”在他们的族裔社区和更广泛的社会环境中。并跨越门诺派社区之间的边界。在发展Barthian观点的过程中，本文的贡献在于建立了一个全面的框架，以了解族裔边界动态在移民企业家精神中的作用，从而也回应了呼吁采取更多的微观过程方法来理解移民企业家的“混合嵌入”在他们的族裔社区和更广泛的社会环境中。