Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe

This article explores the causes, dynamics, and theoretical implications of the “localization” of ethnic entrepreneurship through “traditional” food businesses in Europe. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2017, it analyses the emergence of “Chinese” chips shops in the Flemish province of An...

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Main Author: van Dongen, Els
Other Authors: School of Humanities
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80651
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/50065
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author van Dongen, Els
author2 School of Humanities
author_facet School of Humanities
van Dongen, Els
author_sort van Dongen, Els
collection NTU
description This article explores the causes, dynamics, and theoretical implications of the “localization” of ethnic entrepreneurship through “traditional” food businesses in Europe. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2017, it analyses the emergence of “Chinese” chips shops in the Flemish province of Antwerp, Belgium. Highlighting the history of Chinese migration to Europe, it argues that a specific set of “contexts of exit” and “contexts of reception” explain this development. Important among these are Dutch language skills and long-term residence or citizenship in the Netherlands and Belgium, market saturation, and the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. The article posits that these Chinese entrepreneurs are neither “enclave entrepreneurs” nor a “middleman minority”: entering a “traditional” food sector, they must leverage on their “integration capital.” However, with this, they also become entangled in Belgian gastronationalism and gastropolitics. Finally, this “localization” also has a transnational dimension as many of these entrepreneurs re-migrated from the Netherlands.
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spelling ntu-10356/806512020-10-08T06:50:30Z Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe van Dongen, Els School of Humanities Localization Humanities::History::Europe Ethnic Entrepreneurship This article explores the causes, dynamics, and theoretical implications of the “localization” of ethnic entrepreneurship through “traditional” food businesses in Europe. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2017, it analyses the emergence of “Chinese” chips shops in the Flemish province of Antwerp, Belgium. Highlighting the history of Chinese migration to Europe, it argues that a specific set of “contexts of exit” and “contexts of reception” explain this development. Important among these are Dutch language skills and long-term residence or citizenship in the Netherlands and Belgium, market saturation, and the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. The article posits that these Chinese entrepreneurs are neither “enclave entrepreneurs” nor a “middleman minority”: entering a “traditional” food sector, they must leverage on their “integration capital.” However, with this, they also become entangled in Belgian gastronationalism and gastropolitics. Finally, this “localization” also has a transnational dimension as many of these entrepreneurs re-migrated from the Netherlands. Accepted version 2019-10-01T06:20:24Z 2019-12-06T13:53:57Z 2019-10-01T06:20:24Z 2019-12-06T13:53:57Z 2018 Journal Article van Dongen, E. (2018). Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1-19. doi:10.1080/01419870.2018.1540788 0141-9870 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80651 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/50065 10.1080/01419870.2018.1540788 en Ethnic and Racial Studies This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethnic and Racial Studies on 13 Nov 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01419870.2018.1540788 20 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle Localization
Humanities::History::Europe
Ethnic Entrepreneurship
van Dongen, Els
Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe
title Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe
title_full Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe
title_fullStr Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe
title_full_unstemmed Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe
title_short Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship : “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe
title_sort localizing ethnic entrepreneurship chinese chips shops in belgium traditional food culture and transnational migration in europe
topic Localization
Humanities::History::Europe
Ethnic Entrepreneurship
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80651
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/50065
work_keys_str_mv AT vandongenels localizingethnicentrepreneurshipchinesechipsshopsinbelgiumtraditionalfoodcultureandtransnationalmigrationineurope