The Pakistani migratory project is profoundly driven by economic objectives that are clearly appa... more The Pakistani migratory project is profoundly driven by economic objectives that are clearly apparent in their hard-working attitudes, their typically modest expenditure and consumption, the high rate of ethnic entrepreneurship and their remarkable commercial success. Nevertheless, the manifest economic inclination of the group involves a high social cost. This article analyses the economic and socio-cultural key issues that underlie the economic behavior of Pakistanis, as well as the social cost of the migratory enterprise. Furthermore, the paper describes the socio-cultural traits of the Pakistani community and, through a description of Pakistani settlement, it focuses on other important processes that concern the configuration of the city, such as gentrification, centrifugation and reproduction.
Precariousness has been used frequently in recent anthropological debates to designate the subjec... more Precariousness has been used frequently in recent anthropological debates to designate the subjective and material worsening of living conditions experienced by people around the world. However, it is uncommon to see studies where both elements are carefully juxtaposed to illuminate wider processes of inclusion and exclusion. Starting from its application in the context of post-2008 Spain, we show how precariousness can have different meanings for people, depending on their economic and cultural backgrounds. By exploring two contrasting cases, we show similarities and differences in the ways people experience and act upon the changes they have undergone during and after the crisis. We contend that analysing how both material and subjective precariousness are articulated, through comparative case studies, can illuminate the ways in which crisis is transforming ‘the condition of work’ to deepen social inequalities.
ETHNIC ECONOMY IN PERSPECTIVE: FROM ITS ANCHORING TO ITS FLUIDITY WITHIN THE G LOBAL C ITY. The n... more ETHNIC ECONOMY IN PERSPECTIVE: FROM ITS ANCHORING TO ITS FLUIDITY WITHIN THE G LOBAL C ITY. The notion of ethnic economy has been widely discussed in literature on economic activities, migrations and multicultural urban establishments. This paper carries out a systematic analysis of the different theoretical and methodological approaches, in order to provide a context to its evolution and put into question the use of certain terms used in the academic debate on ethnic economy in the context of the global city. The analysis is restricted to two axes: the relation between formal and informal economy,
Part I Capitals Introduction: Understanding ‘Migrant Capital’ 3 Louise Ryan, Umut Erel and Alessi... more Part I Capitals Introduction: Understanding ‘Migrant Capital’ 3 Louise Ryan, Umut Erel and Alessio D’Angelo 1 Thinking Migrant Capitals Intersectionally: Using a Biographical Approach 18 Umut Erel 2 Embodied Cultural Capital and the Study of Ethnic Inequalities 33 Maja Cederberg 3 Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Intercultural Communication and the Career Experiences of Skilled Immigrant Managers 48 Suhair Deeb and Harald Bauder 4 The Role of Care in Developing Capitals among Caribbean Migrant Families 64 Tracey Reynolds
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Research on how the poor “make ends meet” typically shows that they are able to do so by relying ... more Research on how the poor “make ends meet” typically shows that they are able to do so by relying on dense support networks of family and close friends. Recent research suggests, however, that these networks play a limited role. This article examines the role of informal networks in how sixty-one households in Barcelona, Spain, cope with poverty. We use a mixed-methods design that combines structured network delineation with semistructured interviews about the processes of support mobilization. Findings show a great variation in network size and resource capacity among households and in the kinds of ties that offer support. Social support was regarded as essential among members of poor households, but mobilized networks were often insufficient for covering even the most basic needs, and prolonged network mobilization could cause strain and long-term conflict. This analysis suggests that support networks may help people to cope with income volatility while simultaneously increasing th...
Name generators (NGs) and position generators (PGs) have been used to measure resources embedded ... more Name generators (NGs) and position generators (PGs) have been used to measure resources embedded in personal relationships, namely social support and social capital, respectively. Comparisons of these measures adopted NGs that only elicit a small number of alters (max. 5). In this paper we explore whether the measurement of social capital with NGs eliciting larger personal networks (say 15 to 20 alters) gives more comparable results to the PG in terms of occupational prestige. To address this issue, we designed a personal network questionnaire that combined a multiple name generator (MNG) and a PG and enquired about alter characteristics and alter-alter ties for the two sets of nominations simultaneously, allowing their integrated analysis. The questionnaire was implemented in the software EgoNet to collect data from social/environmental entrepreneurs in Spain (N = 30) and Mexico (N = 30. The analysis shows that the two approaches capture mostly non-overlapping sets of personal netw...
In this paper, we show how we came to explore Beck’s theory of individualization in the light of ... more In this paper, we show how we came to explore Beck’s theory of individualization in the light of a qualitative study of livelihood strategies in post-2008 Spain and Cyprus. We observed that experiences of downward social mobility in contexts of welfare retreat and precarious labor conditions were compelling people to build marketed individualities and to create individual biographies with recourse to a highly individualized rhetoric. However, analysis of a very diverse sample of subjects from different socio-economic backgrounds showed us that individualization theory must be conceptualized within a framework of social structures, and that Beck’s individualization theory fails to recognize its persistence in contemporary societies. We therefore propose looking at individualization as a contemporary process through which class differences are expressed. Only in this way can it serve as a useful theoretical tool with which to understand the workings of contemporary capitalism and the ways in which new values and moral frameworks are being formed.
The Pakistani migratory project is profoundly driven by economic objectives that are clearly appa... more The Pakistani migratory project is profoundly driven by economic objectives that are clearly apparent in their hard-working attitudes, their typically modest expenditure and consumption, the high rate of ethnic entrepreneurship and their remarkable commercial success. Nevertheless, the manifest economic inclination of the group involves a high social cost. This article analyses the economic and socio-cultural key issues that underlie the economic behavior of Pakistanis, as well as the social cost of the migratory enterprise. Furthermore, the paper describes the socio-cultural traits of the Pakistani community and, through a description of Pakistani settlement, it focuses on other important processes that concern the configuration of the city, such as gentrification, centrifugation and reproduction.
Precariousness has been used frequently in recent anthropological debates to designate the subjec... more Precariousness has been used frequently in recent anthropological debates to designate the subjective and material worsening of living conditions experienced by people around the world. However, it is uncommon to see studies where both elements are carefully juxtaposed to illuminate wider processes of inclusion and exclusion. Starting from its application in the context of post-2008 Spain, we show how precariousness can have different meanings for people, depending on their economic and cultural backgrounds. By exploring two contrasting cases, we show similarities and differences in the ways people experience and act upon the changes they have undergone during and after the crisis. We contend that analysing how both material and subjective precariousness are articulated, through comparative case studies, can illuminate the ways in which crisis is transforming ‘the condition of work’ to deepen social inequalities.
ETHNIC ECONOMY IN PERSPECTIVE: FROM ITS ANCHORING TO ITS FLUIDITY WITHIN THE G LOBAL C ITY. The n... more ETHNIC ECONOMY IN PERSPECTIVE: FROM ITS ANCHORING TO ITS FLUIDITY WITHIN THE G LOBAL C ITY. The notion of ethnic economy has been widely discussed in literature on economic activities, migrations and multicultural urban establishments. This paper carries out a systematic analysis of the different theoretical and methodological approaches, in order to provide a context to its evolution and put into question the use of certain terms used in the academic debate on ethnic economy in the context of the global city. The analysis is restricted to two axes: the relation between formal and informal economy,
Part I Capitals Introduction: Understanding ‘Migrant Capital’ 3 Louise Ryan, Umut Erel and Alessi... more Part I Capitals Introduction: Understanding ‘Migrant Capital’ 3 Louise Ryan, Umut Erel and Alessio D’Angelo 1 Thinking Migrant Capitals Intersectionally: Using a Biographical Approach 18 Umut Erel 2 Embodied Cultural Capital and the Study of Ethnic Inequalities 33 Maja Cederberg 3 Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Intercultural Communication and the Career Experiences of Skilled Immigrant Managers 48 Suhair Deeb and Harald Bauder 4 The Role of Care in Developing Capitals among Caribbean Migrant Families 64 Tracey Reynolds
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Research on how the poor “make ends meet” typically shows that they are able to do so by relying ... more Research on how the poor “make ends meet” typically shows that they are able to do so by relying on dense support networks of family and close friends. Recent research suggests, however, that these networks play a limited role. This article examines the role of informal networks in how sixty-one households in Barcelona, Spain, cope with poverty. We use a mixed-methods design that combines structured network delineation with semistructured interviews about the processes of support mobilization. Findings show a great variation in network size and resource capacity among households and in the kinds of ties that offer support. Social support was regarded as essential among members of poor households, but mobilized networks were often insufficient for covering even the most basic needs, and prolonged network mobilization could cause strain and long-term conflict. This analysis suggests that support networks may help people to cope with income volatility while simultaneously increasing th...
Name generators (NGs) and position generators (PGs) have been used to measure resources embedded ... more Name generators (NGs) and position generators (PGs) have been used to measure resources embedded in personal relationships, namely social support and social capital, respectively. Comparisons of these measures adopted NGs that only elicit a small number of alters (max. 5). In this paper we explore whether the measurement of social capital with NGs eliciting larger personal networks (say 15 to 20 alters) gives more comparable results to the PG in terms of occupational prestige. To address this issue, we designed a personal network questionnaire that combined a multiple name generator (MNG) and a PG and enquired about alter characteristics and alter-alter ties for the two sets of nominations simultaneously, allowing their integrated analysis. The questionnaire was implemented in the software EgoNet to collect data from social/environmental entrepreneurs in Spain (N = 30) and Mexico (N = 30. The analysis shows that the two approaches capture mostly non-overlapping sets of personal netw...
In this paper, we show how we came to explore Beck’s theory of individualization in the light of ... more In this paper, we show how we came to explore Beck’s theory of individualization in the light of a qualitative study of livelihood strategies in post-2008 Spain and Cyprus. We observed that experiences of downward social mobility in contexts of welfare retreat and precarious labor conditions were compelling people to build marketed individualities and to create individual biographies with recourse to a highly individualized rhetoric. However, analysis of a very diverse sample of subjects from different socio-economic backgrounds showed us that individualization theory must be conceptualized within a framework of social structures, and that Beck’s individualization theory fails to recognize its persistence in contemporary societies. We therefore propose looking at individualization as a contemporary process through which class differences are expressed. Only in this way can it serve as a useful theoretical tool with which to understand the workings of contemporary capitalism and the ways in which new values and moral frameworks are being formed.
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