Intersectionality and Ethnic Entrepreneurship (Ethnic and Racial Studies)

Intersectionality and Ethnic Entrepreneurship brings together a group of eminent and up-and-coming young scholars who apply an intersectional perspective to the study of ethnic entrepreneurship. Against the traditional approach’s emphasis on ethnicity and its primacy, which tends to conflate ethnicity with other social groupings (i.e., social class), considers their effect as an additive or secondary consequence only (i.e., gender), or ignores their influence altogether (i.e., race), the studies in this volume recognize that multiple dimensions of identity intermix to condition entrepreneurial outcomes. Starting with the premise that systems of oppression and privilege, specifically capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy, are endemic to the American social structure, the works in this volume recognize that these interlocking systems of inequality condition the life chances of entrepreneurs from diverse social locations differently, even among members of the same ethnic group. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Zulema Valdez is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Merced, USA. She is the author of The New Entrepreneurs: How Race, Class, and Gender Shape American Enterprise (2011) and Entrepreneurs and the Search for the American Dream (2015).

Mary Romero is Professor of Justice Studies and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University, USA. She is the author of The Maid’s Daughter: Living Inside and Outside the American Dream (2011) and Maid in the U.S.A. (1992, 2002).