TY - JOUR
T1 - Forms of capital, mixed embeddedness and Somali enterprise
AU - Ram, Monder
AU - Theodorakopoulos, Nicholas
AU - Jones, Trevor
PY - 2008/9
Y1 - 2008/9
N2 - What form is small business activity taking among new migrants in the UK? This question is addressed by examining the case of Somalis in the English city of Leicester.We apply a novel synthesis of the Nee and Sanders' (2001) `forms of capital' model with the `mixed embeddedness' approach (Rath, 2000) to enterprises established by newly arrived immigrant communities, combining agency and structure perspectives. Data are drawn from business-owners (and workers) themselves, rather than community representatives. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were held with 25 business owners and 25 employees/`helpers', supplemented by 3 focus group encounters with different segments of the Somali business population.The findings indicate that a reliance solely on social capital explanations is not sufficient. An adequate understanding of business dynamics requires an appreciation of how Somalis mobilize different forms of capital within a given political, social and economic context.
AB - What form is small business activity taking among new migrants in the UK? This question is addressed by examining the case of Somalis in the English city of Leicester.We apply a novel synthesis of the Nee and Sanders' (2001) `forms of capital' model with the `mixed embeddedness' approach (Rath, 2000) to enterprises established by newly arrived immigrant communities, combining agency and structure perspectives. Data are drawn from business-owners (and workers) themselves, rather than community representatives. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were held with 25 business owners and 25 employees/`helpers', supplemented by 3 focus group encounters with different segments of the Somali business population.The findings indicate that a reliance solely on social capital explanations is not sufficient. An adequate understanding of business dynamics requires an appreciation of how Somalis mobilize different forms of capital within a given political, social and economic context.
KW - forms of capital
KW - mixed embeddedness
KW - Somali enterprise
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=50249110986&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://wes.sagepub.com/content/22/3/427.short
U2 - 10.1177/0950017008093479
DO - 10.1177/0950017008093479
M3 - Article
SN - 0950-0170
VL - 22
SP - 427
EP - 446
JO - Work, Employment and Society
JF - Work, Employment and Society
IS - 3
ER -