Mobilising identity : entrepreneurial practice of a ‘disadvantaged’ identity

James, Imaobong and Xiong, Lin and Anderson, Alistair (2022) Mobilising identity : entrepreneurial practice of a ‘disadvantaged’ identity. European Management Review, 19 (3). pp. 436-449. ISSN 1740-4754

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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.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
European Management Review
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1403
Subjects:
?? disadvantaged entrepreneurssocial capitalnetworksintersectionalitygenderethnic minoritiesbamestrategybusiness and international managementstrategy and management ??
ID Code:
150800
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
18 Jan 2021 09:45
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
11 Oct 2024 00:29