Mennonite communities in Belize

Abstract

This paper addresses the entrepreneurial activities within different Mennonite communities in Belize and the way religious differentiation plays a role in their entrepreneurship. In spite of the fact that most Mennonites live quite isolated from the wider society, building upon their Christian beliefs, agricultural skills and a strong working ethos, they have been able to establish a strong and stable economic position within Belize. The paper specifically focuses on the interplay between religious and entrepreneurial differentiation and the way this influences the progressiveness of different Mennonite communities.

Social capital and Mennonite entrepreneurship: the case of Circle R in Blue Creek, Northern Belize

“…In their attempt to preserve their traditional way of life the Mennonites have been forced to migrate several times, because they were often seen as antagonists by the ruling churches and governments in the countries they lived in. They first migrated to Poland and Prussia, then to Russia, from where they moved between 1874 and 1880 to Manitoba, Canada (Roessingh, 2007). Yet even here the Mennonites could not escape the changing rules of the authorities.…”

“…In practice Mennonite ethnicity turns out to be a dual concept (Roessingh, 2007). Most of the Mennonites remain their Canadian citizenship beside their Belizean citizenship.…”

“…The main place where Blue Creek Mennonites meet the local people is at shops and the market in town, since the Mennonites regularly go there to sell their products or to buy products and take advantage of services that are not offered in their own community. Apart from the business market interaction the Blue Creek Mennonites take a prominent position in the labour market in Belize because they employ many local people to work in their community (Roessingh, 2007).…”

The Hoover Mennonites in Belize: A History of Expansion in the Shadow of Separation

“…Today, most of the Mennonite settlements in Belize are based in the agricultural economy (Everitt 1983;Roessingh 2007). The first arrivals in Belize were the Old Colony and Kleine Gemeinde Mennonites, who arrived in 1958.…”

Who Are the Plain Anabaptists? What Are the Plain Anabaptists?

“…In Belize, the Mennonite ethnic identity is pronounced enough that the state census includes "Mennonite" as a people group category. Yet, because some non-ethnic Mennonites have joined the Mennonite religion, the census distinguishes between "ethnic Mennonite" and "religious Mennonite" (Roessingh 2007;Van Kampen 2009). In southeastern Pennsylvania, all of the people from the German-Swiss region of Europe were referred to as the "Pennsylvania Dutch," which included plain Anabaptist sects, but also Moravians, Lutherans, and Reformed.…”