Self-Categorising and Othering in Migrant Integration: The Case of Entrepreneurs in Berlin

Abstract

The economic integration of migrants has become increasingly prioritised by European governments. However, Europe’s colonial past and orientalist narratives have contributed to the inevitable othering of migrants, even in the minds of those with the best of intentions. Guided by the self-categorisation theory, we postulate that those involved in supporting migrants to integrate in European societies implicitly categorise them as an out-group, potentially leading to suboptimal integration outcomes and the (inadvertent) exclusion of the very migrants they attempt to integrate. A case study of migrant entrepreneurship support initiatives in Berlin is illustrated as a qualitative, empirical example, providing some evidence for those arguments. The paper concludes with recommendations for practitioners and suggestions for further research.

Well-Being and Entrepreneurship Intention: An Empirical Study of New Perspectives

“…On the other hand, there is an interesting gap to incorporate new studies on the relationship of well-being constructs, such as sustainable well-being, studying its relationship with entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial behavior. It is advisable to study entrepreneurial intention in specific populations and to relate studies between populations in order to check whether the constructs behave in the same way, for example, migrant populations [70], entrepreneurial intention in indigenous populations [71], among others. At the same time, it is also important to advance in understanding the relationships of the theoretical constructs between entrepreneurial skills [72,73] their training, and entrepreneurial intention.…”

Beyond Cultural Instrumentality: Exploring the Concept of Total Diaspora Cultural Capital for Sustainability

“…This perspective is one that sits at the heart of total diaspora cultural capital. Societies that do not attain this level of integration and interdependence between communities run the risk of confining some groups within the otherness category in the long term [47][48][49][50]. Thus, such societies with a limited view of cultural acceptance and appropriation could price themselves out of cultural richness and socio-economic input.…”

An analysis of the sustainability goals of digital technology start-ups in Berlin

“…Second, it highlights the necessity for political support to specifically target those sustainable start-ups (Hörisch, 2015;Isaak, 2002), while in reality, incentive systems are mostly of a competitive economic nature. Programs targeted at self-employment in Germany, for example, mostly focus on innovation and economic sustainability (Cagarman et al, 2020;Rashid and Cepeda-Garcia, 2021). Unsurprisingly, entrepreneurial ambition will then continue to mainly focus on economic success.…”