Identity and difference - re-thinking UK South Asian entrepreneurship

Purpose: This paper, which is part of a larger study, discusses from an ethno-cultural perspective, the notion of self-identification and difference pertaining to first and second-generation South Asian male entrepreneurs. In essence, previous studies have not explored this dimension to any sufficient depth. Therefore, evidence is unclear as to how ethno-culture has informed entrepreneurial identity and difference. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a phenomenological research paradigm, 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with first and second-generation Sikh and Pakistani Muslim male entrepreneurs in Greater London. A typology of second-generation entrepreneurs is developed and a research agenda proposed. Findings: First-generation respondents regard the UK as home, and do not suffer from shifts in identity. These particular respondents identify themselves as Sikh, or Pakistani Muslim, or a Businessman. However, the second-generation identify themselves via three distinct labels. Here respondents stress their ethnicity by using Hyphenated British identities, or hide their ethnicity behind the term a Normal Businessman, or appear opportunists by using ethnicity as a resource to espouse a True Entrepreneurial identity. Research limitations/implications: The research environment within the Greater London area where the respondents are located may not be as generalisible when compared with other parts of the UK. Originality/value: This paper offers a unique insight into self-prescribed identity and difference noted among London’s ethnic entrepreneurs

Europe’s perennial "outsiders": a processual approach to Roma stigmatization and ghettoization

This paper draws on the theoretical work of Norbert Elias and Loïc Wacquant in seeking to understand the stigmatized and marginalized position of the Roma population within Europe. The paper argues that the persistent persecution of Roma, reflected in social policy, cannot be understood without reference to long-term social processes, which shape the nature of the asymmetric power relations between Roma and non-Roma. Elias's theory of established-outsider relations is applied at the intra-state European level in arguing that Roma constitute a cross-border "outsider" group; with their intense stigmatization explained and perpetuated by a common set of collective fantasies which are maintained through complex group processes of disidentification, and which result in Roma being seen as of lesser human worth. Wacquant's theoretical concept of the "ghetto" is then drawn upon to show how the manifestations of stigmatization for the stigmatized are at once psychological, social and spatial. The paper suggests that the synthesis of the two theorists' relational, theoretical concepts allows for an approach that can expose the way in which power is exercised within and through group relations. Such an approach emphasizes the centrality of the interdependence between Roma and non-Roma, and the fluctuating power balance that characterises that relationship across time and space. The paper concludes that, while existing research focused on policy and outcomes is useful in understanding the negative contemporary experiences of Roma populations, they need to be understood in the context of wider social processes and historical continuities in seeking to elucidate how these processes shape policies and contribute to social and spatial marginalization

Deregulation or democracy? New media, news, neoliberalism and the public interest

This article began from the premise that news media are in crisis. The crisis is being managed by closing papers or shedding staff. Drawing on extensive empirical research the paper argues that these cuts are having a devastating effect on the quality of the news. The cuts are being delivered to news so that shareholder profits remain in an increasingly deregulated news environment. This is having a particularly negative impact on local news. While new technology is opening up new spaces for the engagement of local communities and communities of interest, and new news spaces are emerging these are far from being adequate replacements for a quality, genuinely local, independent news service. The paper suggests that at the heart of this dilemma is a contradiction between the democratic potential of new technologies and the stifling constraints of the free market