Ethnicity and religion as symbolic capitals

Abstract

This work explores how diaspora entrepreneurs leverage ethnicity and religion as assets to run businesses in the country of residence. While there is a growing focus on how diaspora entrepreneurship is experienced, we question how ethnicity and religion can facilitate in the shaping of what is considered as entrepreneurial experiences. This study investigates the case of diaspora Cypriot entrepreneurs in the UK, relying on the concept of intersectionality. We have adopted a positionality perspective to further our knowledge in such an extreme context, on how diaspora Cypriot entrepreneurs leverage ethnicity and religion to support their businesses. We performed visual and text analysis on over 200 documents and images following an abductive approach. We identified an interplay of (i) three symbolic capitals: transgenerational, lingual and religious and (ii) spatial capitals: home and church in the process of establishing and maintaining businesses in the country of residence. Such interplay generates roles that mirror the hierarchy of household roles within the family business. Interestingly, the findings bring to surface the silent role of the grandmother, with multiple responsibilities, such as in retaining cultural and family values within the family as well as transferring them to the family business.