This article documents the emergence of self-employment among Filipino migrants in Paris, a pattern of economic incorporation that departs from the predominance of Filipinos in the domestic work sector in Western Europe. After presenting the characteristics of Filipino migration to France, the article describes the embeddedness of Filipino entrepreneurship in different kinds of networks that structure the Filipino population. Findings suggest that Filipino entrepreneurship is part of overlapping networks based not only upon national origin, but also on regional belongings, class, religion and sexual orientation. Conflicts often characterize the relationship between these networks. Other than relying on Filipino networks, success in self-employment also requires strong ties to other groups, as well as transnational connections. Factors affecting the future prospects of self-employment are also discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichHoward E.1990“Spatial Dimensions of Opportunity Structures.” In Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Immigrant Business in Industrial Societies. Edited by AldrichHoward E.WaldingerRogerWardRobin. London: Sage Publications.
2.
AldrichHoward E.WaldingerRoger1990“Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship,”Annual Review of Sociology, 16:111–135.
BoissevainJeremy1990“Ethnic Entrepreneurs and Ethnic Strategies.” In Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Immigrant Business in Industrial Societies. Edited by AldrichHoward E.WaldingerRogerWardRobin. London: Sage Publications.
5.
BonacichEdna1973“A Theory of Middleman Minorities,”American Sociological Review, 38(5):583–594.
6.
CaglarAyse1995“German Turks in Berlin: Social Exclusion and Strategies for Social Mobility,”New Community, 21(3):309–323.
7.
CampaniGiovanna1993“Labour Markets and Family Networks: Filipino Women in Italy.” In Bridging States and Markets: International Migrations in the Early 1990s. Edited by RudolpHedwigMorokvasicMirjana. Berlin: Sigma.
8.
ChaputYves2002Code de Commerce 2003 (98 ed.). Paris: Dalloz.
9.
DallalfarArlene1994“Iranian Women as Immigrant Entrepreneurs,”Gender and Society, 8(4):541–561.
10.
EllisMarkWrightRichard1999“The Industrial Division of Labor Among Immigrants and Internal Migrants to the Los Angeles Economy,”International Migration Review, 33(1):26–54.
11.
EspirituYen Le1999“Gender and Labor in Asian Immigrant Families,”American Behavioral Scientist, 42(4):628–647.
12.
FawcettJames T.GardnerRobert W.1994“Asian Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Non-Entrepreneurs: A Comparative Study of Recent Korean and Filipino Immigrants,”Population & Environment, 15(3):221–238.
13.
GoffmanErving1963Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
14.
HillmannFelicitas1999“A Look at the “Hidden Side”: Turkish Women in Berlin's Ethnic Labour Market,”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 23(2):267–282.
15.
JacksonRichard T.1999“Les migrations internationales des domestiques philippines: Contextes et expériences aux Philippines et à Singapour,”Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, 15(2):37–67.
16.
JiobuRobert M.1988“Ethnic Hegemony and the Japanese of California,”American Sociological Review, 53(3):353–367.
17.
KaplanDavid H.1998“The Spatial Structure of Urban Ethnic Economies,”Urban Geography, 19(6):489–501.
18.
KimKwang ChungHurhWon Moo1985“Ethnic Resources Utilization of Korean Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Chicago Minority Area,”International Migration Review, 19(1):82–111.
LessingerJohanna2003“Indian Immigrants in the United States: The Emergence of a Transnational Population.” In Culture and Economy in the Indian Diaspora. Edited by ParekhBhikuSinghGurharpalVertovecSteven. London: Routledge.
21.
LightIvan1993“Migration Networks and Immigrant Entrepreneurship.” In Immigration and Entrepreneurship. Culture, Capital and Ethnic Networks. Edited by LightIvanBhachyParminder. London: Transaction Publishers.
22.
LightIvanGoldSteven J.2000Ethnic Economies. San Diego: Academic Press.
23.
LightIvan1992“Los Angeles: L'économie ethnique iranienne,”Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, 8(1):155–169.
24.
Ma MungEmmanuel2000La diaspora chinoise: Géographie d'une migration. Paris: Ophrys.
25.
Ma MungEmmanuelLacroixThomas2003“France: The Narrow Path.” In Immigrant Entrepreneurs. Venturing Abroad in the Age of Globalisation. Edited by KloostermanRobertRathJan. Oxford and New York: Berg Publishers and New York University Press.
26.
Ma MungEmmanuelSimonGildas1990Commerçants maghrébins et asiatiques en France: Agglomération parisienne et villes de l'Est. Paris:Masson.
27.
MaasMarisha2004“Filipino Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. Male and Female Business Activity Compared.” GAP Working Paper Series, http://www.ru.nl/gap/papers/gapwp04–08.pdf, accessed on 24 July 2005.
28.
MaasMarisha2002“Filipinos in the Netherlands: Why Aren't They in Business?,”Asian Migrant, 15(1–2):28–34.
29.
MassonPaulBalarelloJosé1997Rapport de la commission d'enquête sur les régularisations d'étrangers en situation irrégulière. Rapport 470 (97–98), Volume II, 1st part — Commission d'enquete, http://www.senat.fr/rap/l97-47021/l97–47021.html, accessed on 5 January 2006.
30.
PallidaSalvatore1992“Le développement des activités indépendantes des immigrés en Europe et en France,”Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, 8(1):83–96.
31.
ParreñasRhacel Salazar2001Servants of Globalization. Women, Migration and Domestic Work. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
32.
PécoudAntoine2002“‘Weltoffenheit schafft Jobs’: Turkish Entrepreneurship and Multiculturalism in Berlin,”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 26(3):494–507.
33.
PécoudAntoine2000“Thinking and Rethinking Ethnic Economies,”Diaspora, 9(3):439–462.
34.
PetersonMark F.1995“Leading Cuban-American Entrepreneurs: The Process of Developing Motives, Abilities, and Resources,”Human Relations, 48(10):1193–1215.
35.
PortesAlejandro1999“Conclusion: Towards a New World — The Origins and Effects of Transnational Activities,”Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22(2):463–477.
36.
PortesAlejandroJensenLeif1989“The Enclave and the Entrants: Patterns of Ethnic Enterprise in Miami Before and After Mariel,”American Sociological Review, 54(6):929–949.
37.
RaijmanRebecaTiendaMarta2000“Immigrants' Pathways to Business Ownership: A Comparative Ethnic Perspective,”International Migration Review, 34(3):682–706.
38.
RathJan, ed. 2000Immigrant Businesses: The Economic, Political and Social Environment. New York: Macmillan Press Ltd.
39.
SandersJimy M.NeeVictor1987“Limits of Ethnic Solidarity in the Enclave Economy,”American Sociological Review, 52(6):745–773.
40.
ShinozakiKyoko2003“Geschlechterverhältnisse in der transnationalen Elternschaft. Das Beispiel philippinischer Hausarbeiterinnen in Deutschland,”Beiträge zur feministischen Theorie und Praxis, 62(3):67–85.
41.
WaldingerRoger1996Still the Promised City? African-Americans and New Immigrants in Postindustrial New York. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
42.
WaldingerRoger1994“The Making of an Immigrant Niche,”International Migration Review, 28(1):3–30.
43.
WoodrumEric1981“An Assessment of Japanese American Assimilation, Pluralism, and Subordination,”American Journal of Sociology, 87(1):157–169.
44.
YooJin-Kyung2000“Utilization of Social Networks for Immigrant Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Korean Immigrants in the Atlanta Area,”International Review of Sociology, 10(3):347–363.
