This paper examines the entrepreneurial practices of migrants, including refugees, establishing and operating businesses providing food, hospitality, leisure, tourism and events-related services and experiences. Drawing on empirical data gathered in São Paulo, Brazil, the study conceptualises how migrants create cultural ‘goods’ (encompassing material objects, services and experiences), which have been subjected to valuation processes. The paper considers the practices through which migrants mobilise identities, histories, and culturally-specific knowledge as resources in constructing experiential propositions. Moreover, we distinguish between five sets of practices: objectification of self; aestheticisation of otherness; authentication of place-specific food experiences; constructing hospitality venues as cultural spaces; and vitrine-ing (creating platforms for showcasing migrant talent). We discuss the potential consequences of these practices for migrants, consumers, urban environments and their residents, and identify avenues for future research.

Apresentação ao dossiê "Mobilidades"

This paper examines inter-organisational behaviours in what we call ‘migrant support ecologies’ – shared physical and abstract spaces where multiple organisations work to help migrants access and transition within the labour market. Drawing on composite data generated through studies conducted in the UK and Brazil, we argue that actors and organisations in such environments operate in ‘common goal domains’, in which objectives are related but not necessarily integrated or coordinated, and they consequently adopt diverse interactional practices. We distinguish between four ideal types of migrant support organisation based on their activity scope and stakeholder focus before outlining how different organisations and their constituent actors engage in tactical and strategic coupling practices, reflecting shorter and more episodic interactions alongside complex, multithreaded ones. The findings show how different forms of cooperative arrangements may be pursued based on organisations’ capacities, focus and the types of value they seek to create for organisations, migrants and wider societies.

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