The article focuses on the business start-up process of Chinese and Turkish restaurant owners in Finland. Of particular interest are the role of social capital in establishing restaurant businesses and how variations in access to bonding and bridging social capital can explain differences between the two groups. The study is based on two sets of research: one which concentrates on Chinese restaurant owners and the other on the owners of Turkish, kebab fast-food outlets in southern Finland. Regardless of the general similarities of the groups, a closer look at the start-up processes and business activities reveals distinct patterns and processes associated with the entry pattern in Finland: that is, who entered Finland, why they entered the country and how. The two studies indicate that relevant social capital can be accumulated in different ways depending on the migration pattern of the group.

This article proposes that the research area of refugee studies can bene® t from contemporary discussions about the concepts of transnationalism and diaspora. It is argued that the concept of diaspora, understood as a transnational social organisation relating both to the society of origin and the society of settlement, can give a more profound understanding of the social reality in which refugees live. The article provides a brief presentation of current debates about transnationalism and diasporas. Empirical evidence from Kurdish refugee communities in Europe is used to highlight the fact that the concept of diaspora can provide an analytical tool for a sociological study of refugees in the country of exile. The article then goes on to argue that, in order to be a constructive analytical tool, the concept of diaspora has to be regarded as an ideal type in the true Weberian sense of the term. Finally, some of the limitations and dangers associated with the concept of diaspora will be discussed.

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The article presents results from research on migrant entrepreneurs from Turkey in Finland. Previous research on migrant entrepreneurship indicates that transnational ties may play a role in the running of migrant businesses. In this article, I argue that there is a need to analytically make a distinction between the transferability and the mobilisability of transnational social resources. Distinguishing between the two concepts makes it possible to analyse the utilisation of transnational resources more specifically than a simple descriptive study of transnational ties would allow. To focus solely on the existence of transnationalism might overlook the fact that not all ties and resources can necessarily be utilised by migrants in a given social context characterised by unequal power relations. My research results suggest that a consideration of broader networks of power, including state policies, provides a key to understanding how transnational social resources can be utilised among entrepreneurs in Finland.

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