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Categorising and labelling entrepreneurs : Business support organisations constructing the Other through prefixes of ethnicity and immigrantship

Högberg, Lena ; Schölin, Tobias LU ; Ram, Monder and Jones, Trevor (2016) In International Small Business Journal 34(3). p.242-260
Abstract

This article demonstrates how Swedish support organisations approach and target immigrant entrepreneurs in terms of categorisation and labelling. In their strategic positioning, and as a result of framing and communicating specific target groups for their activities, organisations simultaneously produce and reproduce categories of clients. We argue that despite its emancipatory intent, the process of categorisation runs the risk of reproducing an inferior Other. Adding prefixes in labelling entrepreneurs may replicate the societal hierarchies that business support initiatives were designed to counteract. This article questions the basis of business support for minority entrepreneurs and is a contribution to wider debates concerned with... (More)

This article demonstrates how Swedish support organisations approach and target immigrant entrepreneurs in terms of categorisation and labelling. In their strategic positioning, and as a result of framing and communicating specific target groups for their activities, organisations simultaneously produce and reproduce categories of clients. We argue that despite its emancipatory intent, the process of categorisation runs the risk of reproducing an inferior Other. Adding prefixes in labelling entrepreneurs may replicate the societal hierarchies that business support initiatives were designed to counteract. This article questions the basis of business support for minority entrepreneurs and is a contribution to wider debates concerned with exposing the constructed nature of entrepreneurship.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
business support, categorisation, ethnicity, immigrant entrepreneurship, labelling
in
International Small Business Journal
volume
34
issue
3
pages
19 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000375575000002
  • scopus:84964815825
ISSN
0266-2426
DOI
10.1177/0266242614555877
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7392678e-03aa-4812-ad2a-2ddd53c02a3b
date added to LUP
2016-10-19 11:23:44
date last changed
2024-07-12 18:24:44
@article{7392678e-03aa-4812-ad2a-2ddd53c02a3b,
  abstract     = {{<p>This article demonstrates how Swedish support organisations approach and target immigrant entrepreneurs in terms of categorisation and labelling. In their strategic positioning, and as a result of framing and communicating specific target groups for their activities, organisations simultaneously produce and reproduce categories of clients. We argue that despite its emancipatory intent, the process of categorisation runs the risk of reproducing an inferior Other. Adding prefixes in labelling entrepreneurs may replicate the societal hierarchies that business support initiatives were designed to counteract. This article questions the basis of business support for minority entrepreneurs and is a contribution to wider debates concerned with exposing the constructed nature of entrepreneurship.</p>}},
  author       = {{Högberg, Lena and Schölin, Tobias and Ram, Monder and Jones, Trevor}},
  issn         = {{0266-2426}},
  keywords     = {{business support; categorisation; ethnicity; immigrant entrepreneurship; labelling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{242--260}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{International Small Business Journal}},
  title        = {{Categorising and labelling entrepreneurs : Business support organisations constructing the Other through prefixes of ethnicity and immigrantship}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0266242614555877}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0266242614555877}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}