Mobilising Identity: Entrepreneurial Practice of a ‘Disadvantaged’ Identity

Abstract

We examine how female migrant entrepreneurs overturn disadvantage through social resourcing. We argue they are disadvantaged by the intersectionality of their identities; that social constructions and ensuing entrepreneurial expectations are a poor fit with their ascribed identity, that they are marginalised by their ‘otherness’. However, entrepreneurship is not only socially situated, but also socially enacted. We studied their entrepreneurial social enactment and found they had used agency to mobilise their identity. The shared identity of marginality as cultural strangers fostered a sense of togetherness as social capital. In turn, this produced group social responsibility, a socialised obligation to help each other. The entrepreneurs used this intangible resource to first establish their businesses then as a platform for wider engagements. We found that when the entrepreneurial self became superimposed on intersectional identity, disadvantage almost disappeared. Respondents reported confidence in themselves through their entrepreneurial achievement, paradoxically empowered by a negative social identity.

Intersectionality and Minority Entrepreneurship: At the Crossroad of Vulnerability and Power

“…Therefore, the scholar calls for distinguishing between intersectionality, on the one hand, and multiple identities research, on the other hand, which focuses on positive aspects of multiple identities (Werbner, 2013). Although the call is well justified, in recent studies, intersectionality seems to be redefined; scholars highlighted positive outcomes of multiple social groups' membership such as contextual legitimacy (Tao et al, 2020), personal empowerment (Croce, 2020;James et al, 2021), access to niche markets (Essers & Benschop, 2009) and to resources from several cultural contexts (Essers & Benschop, 2007), unique social capital, and strong in-group solidarity (Harvey, 2005;James et al, 2021;Wingfield & Taylor, 2016). Thus, intersectionality framework does not anymore exclusively focus on structures of oppression but also on structures of opportunities enabled by multiple groups' membership.…”

“…Intersectionality framework has been applied in multiple case studies on minority entrepreneurship. Countries covered by research include Poland (Andrejuk, 2018), the USA (Banerjee, 2019;Harvey, 2005;Valdez, 2016;Vallejo & Canizales, 2016;Wingfield & Taylor, 2016), the UK (Barrett & Vershinina, 2017;Fielden & Davidson, 2012;James et al, 2021;Lassalle & Shaw, 2021;Martinez Dy, 2015;Martinez Dy et al, 2017), Canada (Chiang et al, 2013), Australia (Chiang et al, 2013), the Netherlands (Essers & Benschop, 2007, 2009Pijpers & Maas, 2014;Tao et al, 2020), Colombia (Granados &Rosli, 2018), andTaiwan (Wing-Fai, 2016). Following the original focus of the framework, intersection of gender with class (e.g.…”

“…Vulnerability of minority entrepreneurs may be especially visible in times of crisis; for example, the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic proved to reinforce existing inequalities and disproportionally affect minority-owned enterprises putting them at risk of closure (Dua et al, 2020). As it was mentioned above, minorities struggle to acquire necessary legitimacy in their entrepreneurial roles; disassociated from the archetypical image of a white, young, male entrepreneur, minority businesspersons are not accepted as equal economic actors by fellow entrepreneurs, clientele, and authorities (Essers & Benschop, 2007;James et al, 2021;Martinez Dy, 2015;Vallejo & Canizales, 2016;. Moreover, as those identities disconnected from the archetype can overlap, it becomes even more difficult to acquire desired legitimacy (James et al, 2021).…”

“…As it was mentioned above, minorities struggle to acquire necessary legitimacy in their entrepreneurial roles; disassociated from the archetypical image of a white, young, male entrepreneur, minority businesspersons are not accepted as equal economic actors by fellow entrepreneurs, clientele, and authorities (Essers & Benschop, 2007;James et al, 2021;Martinez Dy, 2015;Vallejo & Canizales, 2016;. Moreover, as those identities disconnected from the archetype can overlap, it becomes even more difficult to acquire desired legitimacy (James et al, 2021). Essers and Benschop (2009) beautifully exemplify this with the case of Muslim female entrepreneurs in the Netherlands.…”

“…As the term is tightly linked to mainstream or dominant entrepreneurship, the latter also needs a clarification of its meaning. Previous studies pointed at existence of the archetypical image of an entrepreneur who is supposed to be a heroic, rags-to-riches, young, white, male Calvinist (Aydin et al, 2019;Dy & Agwunobi, 2019;Essers & Benschop, 2007, 2009James et al, 2021;Martinez Dy, 2015;Martinez Dy et al, 2017). Thus, minority entrepreneurship introduces other than above-mentioned, non-dominant categories of class, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity into the discussion on business activities .…”