Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Cities: Global Perspectives

Abstract

Immigration is a topic of enduring interest. In addition, immigrant communities, as cultural, economic and political emblems, have always existed in global cities. Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Cities: Global Perspectives, edited by Prof. Cathy Yang Liu, provides a comprehensive insight into the experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs in 13 diverse urban cities across five continents. This book employs a traditionally comparative approach to analyze the economic and development differences between the Global North and the Global South. One of its key innovations, however, is the theoretical framework used to explore emerging economies like South Africa and Brazil. By reading this book, readers can gain a panoramic and brand-new understanding of immigrant entrepreneurship in some immigrant cities. In their opening words of Part I, Lauren W. Forbes and Cathy Y. Liu introduce the connections between global cities and economic patterns using the theoretical framework of comparative analysis and transnational immigration studies. In the aftermath of WWII, Sydney, the fourth greatest immigrant city in the contemporary world, introduced large-scale settler immigration programs that saw it accept people from countries, such as Korea, Lebanon, etc., and refugees from Iraq and Syria. Unlike late immigrants (the post-1997) to Hong Kong, Sydney has witnessed several generations of family immigration who have brought distinctive lifestyles and business careers. Korean immigrants in Sydney have succeeded in building the intergenerational businesses such as restaurants, supermarkets and hotels. By contrast, indigent refugees or humanitarian immigrants from Africa have found it harder to start businesses because they are more poorly educated. By the authority of the Chinese Central Government, Hong Kong, as a global intermediary in entrepôt trade, experienced an economic boom, which motivated many local people and attracted many British, Americans and Austrians to establish their businesses since its handover in 1997. However, this boom relied upon large numbers of low-paid laborers from South Asian nations like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Comparatively speaking, on the other side of the world, European and American cities, like Barcelona, Paris, New York, El Paso and Washington, DC, reveal the varying ecology of immigration communities. Asian and African immigrants participate widely in the food service market in Barcelona and Paris. Their particular national and ethnic foodstuffs bring people together in the urban neighborhoods but can create the derisive name of ‘commercial ghettoes’ that are separate from the white mainstream but serve as a conduit for Europeans to know about the communities. On the other hand, besides trans-pacific Asian immigrants like Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Vietnamese and Filipinos to the USA, Hispanic immigration from countries, such as Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, also make up a significant share of immigration to the USA owing to their proximity to the US border. It is notable that, according to the figures of the US Census Bureau, of the 1,050,911 firms in New York City, 51 percent of them are minority-owned (p. 102). Furthermore, in New York City, successful self-employed Hispanic businesspeople are also key players in the ethnic leadership in the city, advocating for working-class immigrants and maintaining good relationship with local politicians and with mestizo elites in New York’s professional sphere (p. 104). This resonates with similar cases of Mongolians, Nepalese, Salvadorans, Ethiopians and Eritreans in Washington, DC, who have developed livelihoods as street peddlers, bakers or small restaurant owners.