Mobile Chinese Entrepreneurs

This book draws on the narratives of small-to-medium business owners, born on the Chinese mainland, who have immigrated to Hong Kong and then returned to their homes to establish their enterprises. The book highlights critical issues in migrant economics.

Mobile Chinese Entrepreneurs draws extensively on the narratives of sixteen small-to-medium business owners, born on the mainland, who have immigrated to Hong Kong and returned to their ancestral hometowns in China to establish their enterprises. For these executives, business and social life alike are marked by constant interplay of identities, such as individual identity/group membership and ancestral/immigrant identity. Yet as often as this juggling of multiple selves can be beneficial in the economic sphere, it can also lead to feelings of rootlessness and alienation. Writing with rare sensitivity, the two authors synthesize insights from economic sociology, psychology, ethnic relations, emotions, and social networks, creating an exploration of social capital and social identity comparable to similar groups of businessmen and women in other parts of the world.

Highlights critical issues in migrant economics Focuses on theoretical considerations and empirical data Offers a unique ethnic study Provides insights into socioeconomic behaviors Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Auteur
Chan Kwok-bun is Chair Professor of Sociology, Hong Kong Baptist University. He was former President, Hong Kong Sociological Association; former Head, Department of Sociology, and former Director, David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University. Between 2005 and 2008, Professor Chan has published seven books, and since 2005 has been the Editor of Social Transformations in Chinese Societies (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers), the official journal of The Hong Kong Sociological Association. His current research interests are in families in Chinese societies, Chinese business networks and Chinese capitalism; Chinese ethnic identities; migration, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism, and diasporas.

Texte du rabat

From nomadic traders in the ancient world to peddlers on the American frontier, the immigrant entrepreneur is a timeless figure. In our current age of globalization and multinational corporations, however, this experience is complicated by patterns of adaptation and transformation,relocation and re-invention.

Mobile Chinese Entrepreneurs draws extensively on the narratives of sixteensmall-to-medium business owners, born on the mainland, who have immigrated to Hong Kong and returned to China to establish their enterprises.For these executives, business and social life alike are marked by constant interplay of identities, such as individual identity/group membership and ancestral/immigrant identity. Yet as often as this juggling of these selvescan be beneficial in the economic sphere, it can also lead to feelings of rootlessness and alienation. Writing with rare sensitivity, the authors synthesize insights from economic sociology, psychology, ethnic relations, and social networks, creating an exploration of social capital and social identity comparable to similar groups of businessmen and women in other areas of the world.

Among the topics examined:

• Life/work balance and the role of family.
• Transient identities: local, Hongkonger, Chinese, international.
• Social organizations as drivers of public and private life.
• Clashes between managerial generations.
• Ethnic businesses and government policy: prosperity, marginalization, and points in between. Mobile Chinese Entrepreneurs will interest researchers in family sociology, economic sociology, and psychology, not only those who focus on this particular population but also those seeking unique perspectives into immigrant experience.

Contenu
Shuttling Nomads in Mobile Times.- Research Methodology.-Identity, Interpersonal Networking, and Enterprise Management.-Seven Vignettes.- The Spatial Triangulation of Immigrant Entrepreneurship.- Association: Mediating Self-Identities.- The Double-Edged Sword: Mobility and Entrepreneurship.- Conclusion