![]() ![]() Due to virulent anti-Asian sentiment, Chinese clustered in enclaves where they fended for their survival. Chinese were also barred from immigrating to the United States and from becoming citizens. Sowell (1996) also describes the discrimination and violence directed against Chinese in gold rush communities. For example, during the “coolie ” period in the United States, segregation laws during the nineteenth century hindered Chinese immigrants from learning English and the dominant group ’s culture and norms (Wang 1991 Ha 1998). Traditional middleman minorities have experienced discrimination and hostility in different parts of the world. While culture may be an important ingredient in the formation of middleman minorities, blocked access to opportunity structures represents an equally -if not more -important component in the making of middleman minorities. Similarly, Thomas Sowell (1996) highlights the role that culture plays in the entrepreneurial activities of middleman minorities such as Chinese and Jews. She asserts that the cultures of some groups tend to predispose them to the role of middleman minorities, regardless of location. CULTURE, BLOCKED OPPORTUNITIES, AND MIDDLEMAN MINORITIESīonacich (1973) posits that the culture of the country of origin is important in the development of middleman minority. However, due to continued antagonism from the host society some middleman minority groups remain perpetual middlemen, maintaining their sojourner intentions and residential separation (Blalock 1967). As settlers, they tend to become more integrated into the host society, a fate of many Jews, Chinese, Indians, and Japanese in the United States (Bonacich 1973). Middleman minorities sometimes abandon their intentions to return to their country of origin, transitioning from sojourners to settlers. Finally, the minority clientele of middleman minorities resent them for not hiring members of their group and for not being vested in their communities.Ĭonsequently, their success as entrepreneurs creates a paradox. ![]() Also, workers in the mainstream labor force view the workforce of middleman minorities as a threat to their own ability to negotiate higher wages and better working conditions. Entrepreneurs from other groups cannot readily compete with the middleman minorities ’ cheap labor. ![]() Their success places middleman minorities in conflict with different sectors of the host society. These circumstances allow middleman minorities to establish positions of economic dominance. In particular, these entrepreneurs minimize their labor costs through their reliance on family members and fellow ethnic workers willing to work long hours for little pay. Furthermore, they tend toward businesses in which assets are quickly accumulated and liquidated.ĭue to their sojourner status and their strong in-group ties, middleman minorities develop a competitive business edge. In short, middleman minorities have little incentive to develop ties to the host society. Moreover, they maintain strong ties with their compatriots in the host and origin countries while remaining detached from the host society. A key characteristic for Bonacich is the tendency of middleman minorities to be sojourners -people who intend to return to their country of origin.īecause they are sojourners and their migration is economically driven, middleman minorities are thrifty while amassing capital. She notes several commonalities among various middleman groups (e.g., Armenians, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and Jews) in selected occupations (e.g., bankers, barbers, brokers, launderers, and restaurateurs). Bonacich offers an explanation for the development and persistence of middleman minorities as minority groups serving an intermediary position between the majority group and other segregated minority groups. EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLEMAN MINORITIESĮdna Bonacich ’s article “A Theory of Middleman Minorities ” (1973) remains the seminal work on the topic. Their customers are typically members of marginalized racial or ethnic groups that are segregated from the majority group. The term middleman minorities, coined by Hubert Blalock (1967), refers to minority entrepreneurs who mediate between the dominant and subordinate groups. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING MIDDLEMAN MINORITIES EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLEMAN MINORITIESĬULTURE, BLOCKED OPPORTUNITIES, AND MIDDLEMAN MINORITIES ![]()
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