The Elusive Enclave: Ethnicity, Class, and Nationality among Latino Entrepreneurs in Greater Washington, DC

Abstract

In much of the social science literature on immigrant entrepreneurship and ethnic enclaves, social solidarity among coethnics is assumed rather than substantiated. Immigrants are portrayed as constituting ethnic communities based on organic solidarity with little of the asymmetry, exploitation, and individualism characterizing the host society. This study of Latino entrepreneurs in Greater Washington, DC insists that rather than assuming the existence of social solidarity among immigrants, it is best to delineate those historical, social, and cultural factors which facilitate or impede its development. Among those factors which have constrained the creation of social solidarity and an ethnic enclave among Washington, DC's Latinos is the existence of marked divisions based on social class and nationality. In contrast to prevailing views, this study concludes that the forging of ethnic solidarity is not at all an easy accomplishment nor is it necessarily desired by all immigrants.