Assyrian Entrepreneurship in Exile: Social Networks, Ethnic Capital, and Conflict Management in a Stateless Diaspora
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Assyrian * entrepreneurship in Sweden has developed under conditions shaped by exile, statelessness, and structural exclusion. While ethnic entrepreneurship has been widely studied, little is known about the specific experiences of stateless communities. This study explores how Assyrian entrepreneurs navigate both opportunity and marginalization within the Swedish institutional and economic landscape. Methods: The study is based on 20 in-depth interviews with Assyrian entrepreneurs in the Stockholm region, using a qualitative and phenomenological research approach. The analysis applies concepts such as mixed embeddedness, social capital, capital theory, and conflict management in diaspora settings. Results: Findings reveal that Assyrian entrepreneurs rely heavily on bonding social capital, informal financing, and transnational diaspora networks. Their entrepreneurship is shaped by experiences of mistrust toward formal institutions, gendered labor structures, and intergenerational tensions. Despite limited access to formal capital and support, they create resilient and communitybased economic systems that sustain cultural identity and autonomy. Conclusions: Assyrian entrepreneurship in exile is more than economic activity-it is a form of symbolic resistance, identity construction, and cultural continuity. The study contributes to ethnic entrepreneurship theory by integrating statelessness, conflict dynamics, and informal capital practices as key analytical dimensions.
Source: Archives of Business Research
Author: Feyyaz Kerimo
Institution: KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4413352857