From Father to Son: 1.5- and Second-Generation Korean Argentines and Ethnic Entrepreneurship in the Argentine Garment Industry

Abstract

Unlike second-generation Koreans in the USA or other developed countries, who generally rejected the small-business preferences of their parents, pursued professional careers and achieved mainstream-oriented mobility, succeeding generations of Korean Argentines have continued to choose work within the garment industry. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Argentina in 2014, this study discusses why young Korean Argentines opt for these career paths and how such a choice reflects the particular migration experiences and settlement history of Koreans in Argentina. While the economic and practical merits of inheriting family-owned businesses have been major drivers in the career decisions of younger Korean Argentines, their settlement and lives are also structurally shaped, as they are embedded in and subject to shifting socioeconomic variables stemming from the wider social, economic, and political conditions of the host society.