Modus operandi and the socio-spatial milieu in which immigrant niche markets vis-a-vis informal economic activities
This paper is situated within a broader economic, socio-anthropological framework and set against the background of immigrant niche marketing. Drawing on literature on immigrant niche markets (Gemici, 2008:9; Eckstein and Peri, 2018:3) with specific reference to Africa (Ojong, 2005:12; Ojong and...
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| Format: | text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
School of Social Work
2021
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| Online Access: | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336530639_Modus_operandi_and_the_socio-spatial_milieu_in_which_immigrant_niche_markets_vis-a-vis_informal_economic_activities http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4528 |
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| Summary: | This paper is situated within a broader economic, socio-anthropological
framework and set against the background of immigrant niche marketing.
Drawing on literature on immigrant niche markets (Gemici, 2008:9; Eckstein
and Peri, 2018:3) with specific reference to Africa (Ojong, 2005:12; Ojong and
Fomunyam, 2011:23), this paper poses that there is invisible literature aimed at
assessing the position of niche markets of Zimbabwe migrant women
hairdressers in Durban. Against this backdrop, the ongoing paper presents a
succinct position of niche marketing research drawing insights on anecdotal
evidence of the abovementioned participants. The initial part of this paper
provides an understanding of the dynamics of immigrant niche marketing and its
operationalization. The second part of this paper provides an analysis on the
multiple avenues utilized by the abovementioned participants in order to startup
and sustain their businesses in the host country. Key submission made in the
section is that social capital, personal savings, and stokvels play a significant
role in starting up informal economic activities of the said participants. The
penultimate part of this article discourses how Zimbabwe migrant women
hairdressers in Durban experience the concept of mixed embeddedness as they
participate in informal economic activities. In this paper, we have engaged with
fieldwork data, relevant literature, Giddens structuration theory (2003) and
Waldinger et al (1990) interactive model of entrepreneurship growth. We
conclusively argue that structural synergies of mixed embeddedness as
experienced by the said participants are both enabling and constraining and
forms that backbone of their enterprise in the host country. |
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