Caroline Essers

Enterprising Identities: Female Entrepreneurs of Moroccan or Turkish Origin in the Netherlands

This paper explores the complex processes of identity construction of female ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Informed by discursive approaches to identity, we make an intersectional analysis of five life stories of female entrepreneurs of Moroccan or Turkish origin in the Netherlands. Being female, Turkish or Moroccan, and entrepreneur at the same time requires various strategies to negotiate identities with different constituencies. These strategies of identity work vary in the degree of conformity: one type is to mainly adhere to conventional images of femininity, a second one is to denounce femininity and/or ethnicity situationally, and the third is to resist the masculine connotation of entrepreneurship by disconnecting it from masculinity. Our focus on this hitherto neglected group of entrepreneurs makes for a situated contribution to the deconstruction of the entrepreneurial archetype of the white male hero. It furthers the understanding of the micropolitics of identity construction in the workplace in relation to the social categories of gender, ethnicity and entrepreneurship.

Muslim businesswomen doing boundary work: The negotiation of Islam, gender and ethnicity within entrepreneurial contexts

This article discusses how female entrepreneurs of Moroccan and Turkish origin in the Netherlands construct their ethnic, gender and entrepreneurial identities in relation to their Muslim identity. We contribute to theory development on the interrelationship of work identities with gender, ethnicity and religion through an intersectional analysis of these womens gender and ethnic identities within their entrepreneurial contexts and in relation to their Muslim identity. We draw on four narratives to illustrate how the women interviewed perform creative boundary work at these hitherto under-researched intersections. Islam is employed as a boundary to let religious norms and values prevail over cultural ones and to make space for individualism, honour and entrepreneurship. Moreover, different individual religious identities are crafted to stretch the boundaries of what is allowed for female entrepreneurs in order to resist traditional, dogmatic interpretations of Islam. Our study contributes to studies on entrepreneurship by showing how these female entrepreneurs gain agency at the crossroads of gender, ethnicity and religion.

Critical perspectives in entrepreneurship research

In the face of the extraordinary events of the late 2000s ‘global financial crisis’, it may have been expected that some drastic rethink of the unquestioning idealization of the entrepreneur as prototype ‘homo economicus’, all aspirational and risk-taking would flood the world’s media and preoccupy social commentators. One might have expected social, political and business media to pursue empirical research and theoretical analyses seeking out new forms of financial and organizational life to militate against the obscenely unequal, grossly exploitative and boom-crash ethos of market economics. It could equally have been imagined that newly awakened ‘captains of industry’ would

Family ties: migrant businesswomen doing identity work on the public-private divide

This article contributes to the literature on identity work and small business studies, by identifying various forms of identity work of female business owners of Turkish and Moroccan descent in the Netherlands, in relation to two sets of identity regulations stemming from their families, regarding the norms of ‘being a good woman’ and ‘dealing with family support’. Identity work refers to the way subjects form, maintain, strengthen or revise constructions of self in relation to the claims and demands issued on them. Our analysis, which is based on McAdams’s life-narrative approach, demonstrates in detail how social actors perform identity work in continuous interplay with their family environment when powerful, multiple, and even contradictory normative demands are made on those identities. We have demonstrated how these migrant female business owners use various cultural repertoires to negotiate and manipulate the family norms and values in order to seek and hold their position in the public domain effectively. Our research has revealed a variety of identity work manifestations, all strategically maneuvering between conflict and compliance.

Emancipation and/or oppression? Conceptualizing dimensions of criticality in entrepreneurship studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use the attribute “critical” as a sensitizing concept to emphasize entrepreneurships role in overcoming extant relations of exploitation, domination and oppression. It builds on the premise that entrepreneurship not only brings about new firms, products and services but also new openings for more liberating forms of individual and collective existence. Design/methodology/approach – Honing in on Calas et al.s (2009) seminal piece on critical entrepreneurship studies, and building on Laclaus (1996) conceptualization of emancipation as intimately related to oppression, the paper explores different interpretations of emancipation and discuss these from a critical understanding of entrepreneurship. The paper then employs these interpretations to introduce and “classify” the five articles in this special issue. Findings – The editorial charts four interpretations of emancipation along two axes (utopian-dystopian and heterotopian-paratopian), and relates these to vari...

Professional Migrant Women Decentring Otherness: A Transnational Perspective

Embraced by their ethnicity and gender many migrant women have negotiated their own spaces in the host country. Yet, much of the literature on migrant women focuses on those who are struggling to make ends meet with low levels of education and how this defines the construction of the Other. We contribute to the limited scholarship in management research on professional migrant women by illustrating how transnational processes play out in the lived experience of professional migrant Indian women in New Zealand, and how they invoke agency in decentring Otherness. This qualitative study foregrounds the navigation of asymmetrical power relations and the strategic deployment of ethnicity, education and caste affiliation, when confronted with processes of exclusion in the labour market. We argue for the need to highlight narratives of professional migrant women which reflect the agency and articulation of their voices, thus reworking notions of the Other in transnational space.Embraced by their ethnicity and gender many migrant women have negotiated their own spaces in the host country. Yet, much of the literature on migrant women focuses on those who are struggling to make ends meet with low levels of education and how this defines the construction of the Other. We contribute to the limited scholarship in management research on professional migrant women by illustrating how transnational processes play out in the lived experience of professional migrant Indian women in New Zealand, and how they invoke agency in decentring Otherness. This qualitative study foregrounds the navigation of asymmetrical power relations and the strategic deployment of ethnicity, education and caste affiliation, when confronted with processes of exclusion in the labour market. We argue for the need to highlight narratives of professional migrant women which reflect the agency and articulation of their voices, thus reworking notions of the Other in transnational space.

An Uncommon Wealth . . .Transforming the Commons With Purpose, for People and Not for Profit!

The overemphasis on individualism in much normative entrepreneurship discourse belies the powerful role played by local level and communal forms of barter, culturally based collectivist models of organization, social enterprise, and other forms of co-investment. Following Rindova et al., we argue innovation in entrepreneurship can be an emancipatory process with broad change potential to bring about new economic, social, institutional, and cultural environments. New forms of productive social relations and cooperative effort generate new ways of liberating individual and collective existence. However, the dark side of entrepreneurialism also casts its shadow over the pursuit of an idealized commons. Romanticizing forms of collective entrepreneurialism as a means for elevating vulnerable groups may have contrary effects, especially for those already socially and economically marginalized. Theorizing entrepreneurship from a critical perspective, we draw on Laclau’s emancipation–oppression dualism. We explore the contradictions and potentialities of locally based communal entrepreneurship as expressions of a dynamic tension, which is simultaneously both transformative and exploitative in orientation.

Entrepreneurial activities in a developing country: an institutional theory perspective

Purpose Entrepreneurship research in the context of developing countries has typically investigated the ways in which culture, politics or economic institutions prohibit or enable entrepreneurial activities using macro-level surveys and deductive designs. In contrast, the purpose of this paper is to take a micro-institutional perspective to study these three institutions influencing entrepreneurial activities in such a context. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on inductive, qualitative field data from a challenging institutional environment, Tanzania. This includes two focus groups, one with experts and one with entrepreneurs; and 24 individual interviews with entrepreneurs. Findings Entrepreneurial activities in Tanzania are not constrained only by bureaucracy and arbitrary enforcement, access to capital, competition and consumer spending, but also by language barriers, negative media portrayals and gender disparity. In their favour, recent trade policy, opening up of borders and changing gender relations, has led to more opportunities, but just as important are traditional festivals, marital gift-giving and familial support. Entrepreneurs respond to institutional constraints in many creative ways, including undertaking entrepreneurial strategies, developing inner strength, joining associations, giving back to communities and skilfully managing relations with authorities. Originality/value The fine-grained discussion of the findings of this study specifically contributes to theory by illustrating the constraining and enabling role of under-represented institutions, such as festivals and marriages, as well as entrepreneurial creative responses that define everyday entrepreneurial life in a developing country.

Alternate-Feminine Entrepreneurial Identity: Explaining, Persuading, Convincing, and Adapting

Research on women entrepreneurs has made an important progress in the field. However, recent calls suggest the incorporation of feminist theorizing. We center our attention on how women in a male-d...

Professional Migrant Women Decentring Otherness: A Transnational Perspective: Professional Migrant Women Decentring Otherness

Embraced by their ethnicity and gender many migrant women have negotiated their own spaces in the host country. Yet, much of the literature on migrant women focuses on those who are struggling to make ends meet with low levels of education and how this defines the construction of the Other. We contribute to the limited scholarship in management research on professional migrant women by illustrating how transnational processes play out in the lived experience of professional migrant Indian women in New Zealand, and how they invoke agency in decentring Otherness. This qualitative study foregrounds the navigation of asymmetrical power relations and the strategic deployment of ethnicity, education and caste affiliation, when confronted with processes of exclusion in the labour market. We argue for the need to highlight narratives of professional migrant women which reflect the agency and articulation of their voices, thus reworking notions of the Other in transnational space.Embraced by their ethnicity and gender many migrant women have negotiated their own spaces in the host country. Yet, much of the literature on migrant women focuses on those who are struggling to make ends meet with low levels of education and how this defines the construction of the Other. We contribute to the limited scholarship in management research on professional migrant women by illustrating how transnational processes play out in the lived experience of professional migrant Indian women in New Zealand, and how they invoke agency in decentring Otherness. This qualitative study foregrounds the navigation of asymmetrical power relations and the strategic deployment of ethnicity, education and caste affiliation, when confronted with processes of exclusion in the labour market. We argue for the need to highlight narratives of professional migrant women which reflect the agency and articulation of their voices, thus reworking notions of the Other in transnational space.