Prometheus, the double-troubled – migrant transnational entrepreneurs and the loyalty trap

Abstract

Departing from the concept of Diaspora and practices of Ethnic Entrepreneurship (EE), much theoretical and empirical research on third-country Migrants’ Transnational Entrepreneurship (MTE) emphasises, on a microlevel, the importance of individuals’ social capital, dual habitus, ethno-cultural motivation, constrained self-efficacy and opportunity alertness. On a mesolevel much of the literature points out that both ethnic community (size and intensity) and group characteristics (survival strategies, networks, and social capital) are pivotal factors of the business development by third-country migrants in Europe. Circumstances around migrants’ dual loyalty seem to overrule diasporic altruism and benefits of dual habitus. Above all, our empirical data show that the intersection between EE, MTE and integration policies are experienced by actors as interdependent fields of discursive practices, creating a fourth field of practice that is characterised by its own dynamic and opportunity structure. Attempting to understand the discourses dominating this fourth field of social practice we include other theories beyond those traditionally applied when studying migrants’ transnational entreprenourship.