Conviviality & Cornershop Cosmopolitanism

Transcription

1 Conviviality & Cornershop Cosmopolitanism An Ethnographic Exploration of the Pakistani Enclave Economy in the El Raval Neighbourhood of Barcelona Student: Roel van Heeswijk ANR: Master Thesis in the Master track Management of Cultural Diversity School of Humanities Tilburg University Supervisor: Second reader: dr. Max. Spotti prof. dr. Kutlay Yagmur Word count: (excluding abstract, references and appendix) Date: August 2016

2 Abstract This thesis aims to contribute to the discussion of everyday multiculturalism focusing on El Raval, a neighbourhood in Barcelona with a growing presence of Pakistani migrants. Among immigrant populations in Barcelona, Pakistanis are most dynamic in terms of entrepreneurship. Within a locality affected by global tourism and gentrification, Pakistani entrepreneurs in El Raval operate within an ethnic enclave economy. I discuss how shopkeepers often rely on coethnic resources regarding funding and recruitment. However, ethnic shops are also shown to function as convivial spaces that facilitate contact between an otherwise relatively invisible migrant community on the one hand, and the host society and visitors on the other. Confronted with a superdiverse reality, and driven by the need to survive in a highly competitive environment, Pakistani shopkeepers learned the essential skills to deal with their diverse clientele. I address the concepts of conviviality and cosmopolitanism to demonstrate how Pakistani entrepreneurs deal with their customers, and how their high-entrepreneurship profile contributes to the visibility of the community and the ways in which this shapes the image of Pakistanis in El Raval. Keywords: Ethnic entrepreneurship; Conviviality; Pakistani Migrants; Barcelona; El Raval; Cosmopolitanism 1

3 Acknowledgements I feel grateful for being given the opportunity to carry out my research in Barcelona. A special note goes out to Berta Guëll, who was always of great help by introducing me to my informants and by sharing her invaluable knowledge about the Pakistani community that resides in El Raval. Moreover, I would like to thank my supervisor dr. Max Spotti, who first guided me in the process of developing my individual research proposal, as well as later at the time that I carried out my study. His trust and understanding have greatly contributed to the result presented here. I also would like to thank prof. dr. Kutlay Yagmur, for being the second reader and for the valuable suggestions he made during the defence meeting of my individual research proposal. Also, a word of gratitude goes to my fellow students Marcel Uzoigwe and Beata Pyszniak whose ideas have been very helpful during our thesis circle meetings. Thank you to my family and friends, both those in Barcelona and the Netherlands, who supported me in last few months. In particular, I would like thank Umair Dar for his hospitality, help, and the great interest he showed in my work. Finally, I would like to thank all the anonymous respondents who participated in this study, without them, I could not have written this thesis. 2

4 Table of Contents Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 2 Chapter 1: Introduction Background Problem Statement Outline 6 Chapter 2: Conceptual Framework Globalisation & the Emergence of Superdiversity Conviviality Everyday Cosmopolitanism & Banal Nationalism Transnationalism(s) Ethnic Entrepreneurship & the Ethnic Enclave Economy 12 Chapter 3: Methodology Ethnography as a Paradigm Ethnographic Fieldwork Limitations 17 Chapter 4: El Raval & the Pakistani Community The Neighbourhood Context Analysis The Pakistani Community in El Raval 23 Chapter 5: Results A Description of a Day in the Life of Harun Analysis Conviviality in the Public Domain Conviviality in a Parochial Domain Interpretation 36 Chapter 6: Conclusion 41 References 43 Appendix A: Interview Guide 48 3

5 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background Globalisation brings new types of migration and asks for a reconsideration of our interpretation of social relations. Nowadays, the significance of territorial boundaries decreases. Travellers cover long distances within a short time span and borders are insignificant obstructions for phenomena such as epidemics and global warming, which envelop the planet as a whole. Consequently, scholars perceive the globe in itself as one social space (Scholte, 2002, p. 15). Globalisation causes both homogeneity and heterogeneity. On the one hand, global developments such as consumerism and the disappearance of minority languages result in cultural assimilation. Hence, globalisation opposes cultural diversity. On the other hand, global networks such as the Internet facilitate communication and language maintenance among diasporas (Androutsopoulos, 2006). Therefore, global developments also contribute to maintenance of diversity. Besides, globalisation structures inequality in the global labour market. Mainly the people living in the global north experience the benefits coming from globalisation. Whereas, people in the global south feel the adverse effects. These developments cause human mobility. However, those earthlings who live in the global south enjoy free movement to a much lesser extent than those in the north. Thus, we can speak of new hierarchies of citizenship (Castles, 2011). Many migrants experience difficulties to integrate into host societies. So-called transmigrants often establish transnational relationships, meaning that they maintain various kinds of cross-border linkages that blend the country of origin and the host culture into one communal space (Schiller, Basch & Blanc-Szanton, 2002, p. 9). Modern communication techniques, the increasing efficiency of transportation, and global change in the political and economic domains facilitate this process (Vertovec, 2001, p. 574). One of the consequences of global developments, in fact, are new forms of labour market. An important aspect of the altered job market within the European Union is the mobility of individuals and within that the superdiverse neighbourhoods (Vertovec, 2007; Wessendorf, 2013). The growing number of self-employed migrants within the European labour markets is one of the most noticeable consequences of migration and the ethnic entrepreneur positions itself as a key figure within transnational communities. Within the field of ethnic entrepreneurship, authors present different findings to explain entrepreneurial behaviour among migrants (see Volery, 2007 for a theoretical framework). Multiple studies point to structural reasons, such as discrimination, exclusion, and unemployment, that push migrants towards self-employment (Ålund, 2003; Baycan-Levent, Masurel & Nijkamp, 2003; Baycan-Levent & Nijkamp, 2009; Sahin, Nijkamp & Baycan-Levent, 2007). In contrast, authors present cultural causes, such as particular values, skills, and motivations that facilitate entrepreneurship among immigrants (Baycan-Levent et al., 2003; Rath & Swagerman, 2011; Sahin et al., 2007). Other approaches, such as the interactive model (Waldinger, Aldrich & Ward, 1990), and the mixed embeddedness 4

6 model (Kloosterman, van der Leun & Rath, 1999), combine the structuralist and culturalist perspectives. Especially the mixed embeddedness approach has become widely accepted. This model not only takes into account the characteristics and resources of the ethnic entrepreneur but also incorporates the opportunity structure of the host society in which migrants operate. Kloosterman et al. (1999) argue that the opportunity structure is a function of the wider economic, institutional, and legal context. The interplay of these variables regulates the business opportunities for entrepreneurship and shapes business strategies. Initially, this model explained the entrepreneurial patterns of the Turkish and Moroccan communities in the Netherlands (Kloosterman et al., 1999). Recently, scholars adopted the model to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and new migration patterns. For example, studies regarding the Pakistani community in Barcelona (Güell, 2016), and Ghanaian entrepreneurs in the Netherlands (Kloosterman, Rusinovic & Yeboah, 2016) show that both these migrant communities lack historical ties with the host societies in which they settled. Moreover, these groups maintain different characteristics than the traditional migrants within Spain and the Netherlands. In this respect, these groups add to the notion of superdiversity in that Vertovec (2007) argues that recent migrants often come from places that lack linkages with the host society and bring more diversity. Compared to traditional migrants, newcomers enter society through a wider variety of migration channels, which directly affects their legal statuses and possibilities. Vertovec describes this process as the diversification of diversity and conceptualises it as superdiversity (pp ). This concept challenges our conventional idea of cultural diversity and has brought about a shift from multiculturalism to interculturalism among academics and policymakers (Brynner, 2016, pp ). In present-day urban contexts, diverse communities not only exist next to each other, but also come into contact with each other in everyday life. Rather than focusing on national diversity politics, scholars and civil servants now pay attention to local contexts that provide insight into cultural differences and social cohesion. They place greater emphasis on the daily realities within neighbourhoods, and the ways in which encounters between diverse residents unfold. Interculturalism sets itself apart from multiculturalism in that it not only values the community or culture-sharing group as the basis for expressing diversity, but also the individual. Increasingly, superdiverse migrants settle in Europe, primarily in urban areas. Consistent with this development, a growing body of literature focuses on how people negotiate and manage differences within the public spaces they use in everyday life. Wessendorf (2010; 2013; 2014), drawing on the London neighbourhood of Hackney, argues that individuals construct conviviality in everyday encounters in public socio-cultural spaces within superdiverse neighbourhoods. Also, scholars demonstrate how ethnically diverse individuals use cafe spaces in casual and indifferent manners (Jones, et al., 2015), and how public parks facilitate routine encounters between all kinds of residents (Neal, et al., 2015). Other studies emphasise the likes and dislikes of diversifying urban contexts. Hiebert, Rath, and Vertovec (2015) demonstrate how fleeting encounters in street markets influence intercultural relationships, either negatively or 5

7 positively. Whereas, Wise and Velayutham (2013) point to the parallel existence of happy and hard forms of conviviality in Sydney and Singapore (p. 20). 1.2 Problem Statement Against the background spelled out above, this ethnographic study explores how ethnic entrepreneurs construct conviviality, and overcome differences in their daily encounters with their diverse customers. The research has a localised character and aims to contribute to the field of studies that focuses on the everyday lives of ordinary people, being ethnic entrepreneurs with Pakistani backgrounds our case in point here. Despite the absence of historical ties between Pakistan and Spain, immigrants started to move to Barcelona from the 1970s onwards when migration policies in the United Kingdom became stricter. Consequently, Pakistanis oriented themselves to other countries. At this time, labour opportunities trended upwards in Spain. And nowadays, especially in El Raval, we can observe a strong concentration of Pakistani residents. In general, these individuals are low educated, which is an obstacle to upward mobility in the labour market. Therefore, many of them become self-employed (Güell, 2016). However, Pakistanis also uphold a strong desire to regulate their own work. Thus, there are also cultural factors that explain the entrepreneurial behaviour among Pakistanis (Molina, et al., 2015). The phenomenon of ethnic entrepreneurship reveals both the dark side and the bright side of globalisation. On the one hand, ethnic entrepreneurs make up for a niche market in mainstream society and are portrayed as victims of exclusion. On the other hand, self-employed migrants improve the employability, contribute to new business activities (Sahin et al., 2011, p. 662), and coexist in shared public spaces with other groups (Wessendorf, 2010, p. 19). Many Pakistani entrepreneurs in El Raval not only attract co-ethnics but rather sell their products to a diverse clientele, including indigenous Spanish and tourists (Güell, 2016). Hence, the ethnic shops in which entrepreneurs operate, function as places where vendors and customers meet, but also as sites where intercultural encounters take place. This study investigates the daily processes that unfold within this socio-cultural space, and addresses the following problem statement: How do Pakistani shopkeepers in the El Raval neighbourhood of Barcelona construct conviviality in their daily encounters with their diverse clientele? 1.3 Outline Within this thesis, I first discuss my conceptual framework in Chapter 2. Next, I describe my methodology in Chapter 3. Whereas I present a description of the context in Chapter 4, before I describe, analyse, and interpret my findings in Chapter 5. Finally, I draw up my conclusions in Chapter 6. 6

8 Chapter 2: Conceptual Framework The following concepts link the problem statement to the current state of affairs within the literature across the fields of cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics of globalisation, cultural studies, and management studies. These concepts inform the interpretation of the social processes that I encountered in this study. I incorporated some of these notions prior to data collection, whereas I included other concepts later, due to particular phenomena I faced in the process of doing fieldwork. 2.1 Globalisation & the Emergence of Superdiversity At present, the world is networked and so are human beings and their social relations. There is a flow of people, meanings, information, capital, and goods within and beyond nationstates. Many scholars attribute these developments to a process called globalisation. However, across disciplines there is much disagreement about how to deploy this concept, and what exactly the overall comprehension of it entails. Yet, most scholars of globalisation acknowledge that it is a process that causes social change (Guillén, 2005; Al-Rodhan & Stoudmann, 2006; Scholte, 2002). Since I have no desire to revive this discussion here, I shall focus on those aspects of globalisation that I consider relevant to the scope of this study. One of the conditions ascribed to globalisation is the blurring of territorial boundaries. Today, air travel allows people to cover great distances within a short time-span, and phenomena such as epidemics and global warming spread across the barriers of nation-states. Such supraterritorial phenomena envelop the planet as a whole. Therefore, we can perceive the globe in itself as one social space (Scholte, 2002, p. 15). However, it does not mean that borders have become insignificant. Globalisation does not entail the end of territorialism. We still live in demarcated nation-states that all have their own economies, governance systems, laws, and so on. Rather than replacing it, globalisation adds a new dimension to the local. For example, the global sea-level rise is a supraterritorial process, but connects with the regional, since it causes local problems in the Netherlands. This case also indicates that globalisation does not affect every region and each person to the same extent. Scholte (2002) argues that globality links people anywhere on the planet, but it does not follow that it connects people everywhere, or to the same degree (p. 30). For example, the world wide web connects its users on a global scale, and can even reconnect diaspora communities online (Androutsopoulos, 2006). However, in some territories, there is a much stronger concentration of internet connections than in others, and not every earthling enjoys accessibility to the web. Thus, the internet is an example of an unequally distributed global network. Wang et al. (2013) point out that there are limited infrastructures of globalisation in the peripheral areas, whereas there is a clustering of these phenomena in so-called global cities. Among others, the internet and budget air travel are examples of global infrastructures that facilitate tourism. Nowadays, more people become experienced consumers of cities (Maitland, 2008, p. 18). Often, such individuals not only visit the well-known touristic 7

9 landmarks but also move away from the centre to experience ordinary life in other parts of the cities they visit. In doing so, these visitors make use of the same shops, bars, restaurants, transport, and public spaces as residents. Maitland (2008) states that many visitors find the idea of experiencing the everyday life of locals appealing, since the presence of the latter group functions as a marker of a genuine reality within a place. To get to know the city, tourists seek for convivial experiences (p. 22). To attract these tourists, global cities such as Barcelona compete in what Degen (2003) calls a fight for the global catwalk (p. 871). Against the wider reformation of the world economy and place, global cities strategically apply urban renewal to market their spaces as inviting for business and leisure. In this case, gentrification must create an appealing type of sensuous public landscape (Degen, 2003, p. 871). Consequently, gentrified areas attract new kinds of visitors and residents, whereas some of the old residents are forced to relocate. Thus, gentrification changes both the aesthetics of the area, as well as the social dynamics within a district. Another consequence of globalisation is the structuring of inequality in the global labour market. Castels (2011) draws a sharp distinction between the global north and south. He argues that especially people from the south feel the adverse effects of globalisation, which results in human mobility. However, free movement is not a given for most southern terrestrials. Often, they do not possess the right passports or the desired qualifications and have access to fewer resources that facilitate mobility. This reality forces them to move sporadically and confronts them with high risks. In contrast, privileged earthlings in the global north have acquired a status of global citizenship. They possess those passports and competencies that simplify human mobility. Thus, we can say that global developments create new hierarchies of citizenship across nation-states around the world (Castles, 2011). Globalisation empowers some individuals whereas it disempowers others. It connects people with aligned interests and confronts those with conflicting concerns (Scholte, 2002, p. 32). Global developments such as the fall of the Berlin Wall brought about new patterns of human mobility. Whereas early migrants came from former colonies, newcomers less often maintain historical connections with the host society. In consequence, diversity is becoming more diverse (Blommaert, 2013; Vertovec, 2007). We can observe this reality in particular within urban areas. Today, migrants come from places all around the world and bring in more ethnicity, multilingualism, transnational relations, and religious diversity. Moreover, immigrants also find their ways into host societies through a wider range of migration channels. As a result, immigration services ascribe different legal statuses to newcomers, which directly affects their possibilities regarding accessibility to the labour market, the use of public services, housing, and so on (Vertovec, 2007). The coaction of these variables increases internal diversity within minority communities and challenges our traditional understanding of multiculturalism. It may no longer be adequate to take on ethnic-based approaches towards minorities. Vertovec (2007) describes this transformation as the diversification of diversity and coined the term superdiversity to encapsulate the changing dynamics of cultural diversity in the United Kingdom 8

10 context. He shows how this diversification interweaves with other variables such as patterns of spatial distribution, mobilisation, and growing socioeconomic disparities (pp ). 2.2 Conviviality Elsewhere in this chapter (see page 7), I discussed that globalisation brings local consequences. One example of such an effect are the complexifying social relations within particular urban contexts. The arrival of new migrants from all over the world resulted in the emergence of superdiverse neighbourhoods. Within such places, residents with diverse backgrounds live side by side with each other, which requires a certain degree of dealing with otherness. Gilroy (as cited in Wessendorf, 2014) draws upon the notion of conviviality to describe the process of cohabitation and interaction that made multiculture a common feature of social life in Britain s urban areas (p. 393). By drawing upon the London neighbourhood of Hackney, Wessendorf (2010; 2013; 2014) discusses everyday life in a context where superdiversity has become a daily matter. Within this area, people experience diversity regarding ethnicity, religion, language, and so on, as something mundane. Wessendorf coined the term commonplace diversity to capture the reality of this normalcy of diversity (2013, p. 412). In Hackney, residents communicate with their diverse fellow citizens and are comfortable in doing so. People are not very aware of each other s backgrounds. Either because they wish to avoid conflict, or simply accept others who are different than themselves as long as they are approachable. People in Hackney treat others generally the same and demonstrate a civility towards diversity (Wessendorf, 2014, p. 392). This indifference that individuals uphold towards each other s backgrounds is what Wessendorf describes as the ethos of mixing (2014, p. 393). It relates to the notion of conviviality suggested by Overing and Passes (2000), who speak about a distinct manner of living together (p. 108). On a regular basis, intercultural encounters take place in sites such as corner shops and restaurants. These ordinary places operate as bridges between different groups since they provide opportunities for intercultural encounters, and processes of familiarisation, even though diversity in itself is not necessarily a frequent topic of conversation (Wessendorf, 2013, p. 417). In one way or another, the participation of cultural and ethnic groups is crucial. Alongside public discourses that pay attention to cultural diversity, the degree of participation of groups is a determinant factor for residents in the shaping of their attitudes and perceptions about others (Wessendorf, 2013, pp ). We can draw a distinction between conviviality in the public and the parochial domain. Ordinary places such as streets, squares, parks, public transport and corner shops shape the public sphere. Whereas, spaces such as clubs, associations, and educational institutions form part of the parochial domain. Open spaces play a crucial role in the process of familiarisation with different others, and in learning how to communicate across difference. However, parochial spaces provide people with chances to build deeper and more meaningful relations and allow them to negotiate differences in greater detail. Yet, Wessendorf (2014) points out that the boundaries between the public and parochial domains are fluid. Open 9

11 spaces such as corner shops can take on the functions of a parochial site when individuals start to meet there more frequently (pp ). 2.3 Everyday Cosmopolitanism & Banal Nationalism The flow of meanings, goods, people and so on that characterise globalisation turned the world into one network of social relations. Nowadays, we face a growing interconnectedness of local cultures and the emergence of cultures that are no longer bound to a particular place. Together, these subgroups form a bigger whole, and we can say that there is now a world culture (Hannerz, 1990, p. 237). This development does not mean that there exists one homogenous global culture, rather it encompasses a structuring of diversity worldwide. Today, we can say that, no culture exists in isolation (Piller, 2007, p. 213). However, people can experience this global interconnectedness in different ways. Hannerz (1990) draws a sharp distinction between cosmopolitans and locals (p. 237). He argues that locals are those who live their lives within the boundaries of a national culture. Whereas, cosmopolitans maintain an openness towards diversity while they shift from one cultural milieu to another. Hannerz describes cosmopolitanism as an attitude that one keeps towards diversity. It is an orientation, a willingness to engage with the Other (1990, p. 239). This conventional notion of cosmopolitanism relates to elite individuals and intellectuals, who are on the move in the world and shift from one culture to another to enjoy diversity. However, scholars started to breathe new life into the concept of cosmopolitanism, and now apply it to describe the openness that individuals maintain towards others within the context of the superdiverse neighbourhood. In such a locality, a multitude of cultures reside, and even within their home districts, people need to deal with different others. These circumstances ask for a certain openness towards diversity, and ability to communicate across difference. Wessendorf (2010) suggests the term corner-shop cosmopolitanism to describe the behaviour and use of intercultural skills that individuals apply in everyday life within a superdiverse context. People maintain such behaviour due to a necessity to deal with otherness in an environment where diversity has become commonplace (pp ). Similarly, Noble (2009) speaks about everyday cosmopolitanism to describe the ways in which individuals negotiate cultural differences during daily encounters, and how such events contribute to a sense of community. Everyday cosmopolitanism has a strategic aspect since it involves some transaction between two individuals. It requires active forms of cooperative labour that contribute to a state of unpanicked multiculturalism in which cultural diversity does not lead to confrontation or fear of social fragmentation (p. 51). While everyday cosmopolitanism encapsulates the ways in which people deal with different others in a superdiverse neighbourhood, the concept of banal nationalism (Billig, 1995) helps to explain how individuals maintain their national identities under such circumstances. This notion refers to the practices that duplicate the ethos of the nation-state on a daily basis, and make it omnipresent (p. 6). These rituals and symbolic representations range from unified events such as National Holidays (e.g. King s day in the Netherlands) and sports 10

12 events in which nations compete, to the trivial representation of national symbols such as flags on a carton of rice that facilitate the identification of the languages in which instructions are written. This range of practices not merely echoes national identity, but rather constructs it on a day-to-day basis (Piller, 2007, p. 213). On the one hand, such discourses reinforce essentialist approaches that label national and ethnic identity as culture (Piller, 2007). However, on the other hand, it simplifies identification between a language, culture, territory, and so on (Feliu, Cólera, & Gil-Juárez, 2012). We all belong to a country since every one of us has a nationality, and the symbolic representation of the nation-state helps us to uphold this identity. In this respect, banal nationalism can contribute to a sense of belonging and helps to preserve the national image in a diversifying lifeworld. Anderson (1991) thinks of nations as imagined communities since most members of the nation-state never come into contact with the vast majority of their fellow citizens; nonetheless, this does not prevent anyone of them to construct a mental image of their country (p. 6). Hence, inhabitants identify themselves and are recognised by others as group members. These imagined communities can cross the borders of the nation-state in that diasporas may reconstruct the national image of the country of origin in other places around the world. Drawing upon the example of locutorios (call shops) in the Barcelona context, Feliu et al. (2012) point out that migrants may experience rootlessness, estrangement, and melancholy when they exchange their country of origin for the host society. Consequently, migrants gather together with individuals who share the same country of origin, or a similar migration experience, and reconstruct the nation-state through banal nationalism in ethnically marked places. 2.4 Transnationalism(s) Economic shifts on a global scale caused disruption and resulted in a new type of migrants. Often, these individuals experience difficulties to establish a secure life within the countries in which they settle. This vulnerability makes these so-called transmigrants more likely to build transnational connections (Schiller et al. 1992, pp. 8-9), meaning that they maintain various kinds of cross-border relationships that blend the country of origin and the host society into one communal space. Schiller et al. (2002, pp. 1-9), conceptualise this phenomenon as transnationalism and describe it as the processes by which immigrants build social fields that link together their country of origin and their country of settlement. Transnationalism complexifies the identity of migrants (Schiller et al., 1994; Vertovec, 2001). Most transmigrants feel at home in the culture of the host society as well as in their own culture. Such individuals can actively participate in local politics in the host community. Yet, at the same time, they may be passionate nationalists who feel concerned about the developments in their place of origin. Vertovec (2001) argues that communication techniques, an increasing efficiency of transportation, and global change in the fields of economy and politics facilitate transnationalism (p. 574). Cross-border relations affect the lives of transmigrants and their networks in the economic, political, and socio-cultural domains. Many of them frequently make money transfers to their families, who still reside in their countries of origin or live in other places around the 11

13 world. Thereby, these transmigrants contribute to the development of other locations. Moreover, various social and cultural exchanges exist between these individuals and their networks, such as marriage alliances, commodity consumption, and religious activities. Combined these variables shape the identity, or identities, of transmigrants and subsequently those of the children born to them (Vertovec, 2002, p. 575). 2.5 Ethnic Entrepreneurship & the Ethnic Enclave Economy Finding a steady job is one of the difficulties that migrants face upon arrival in the host country. Often their qualifications are not recognised, or they fall victim to exclusion or discrimination. Therefore, becoming self-employed is a strategy adopted by many to break out of long-term unemployment (Ålund, 2003; Baycan-Levent, et al., 2003; Baycan-Levent & Nijkamp, 2009; Sahin, et al., 2007). However, in some cases, other reasons explain why migrant communities profile themselves as high-entrepreneurship groups (Light & Gold, 2000, p. 11). Particular values, skills, and motivations can facilitate self-employment among migrants (Baycan-Levent et al., 2003; Rath & Swagerman, 2011; Sahin et al., 2007). But, also a favourable opportunity structure in the host society can stimulate entrepreneurship (Kloosterman, van der Leun & Rath, 1999). In any case, these migrants become ethnic entrepreneurs, or what others have labelled as immigrant entrepreneurs, transnational entrepreneurs, or minority entrepreneurs (Chaganti & Greene, 2002; Rath & Swagerman, 2011). Often scholars apply these concepts interchangeably. However, some argue that these notions are different and that the failure to recognise this, partly explains contradictory findings in the field. Chaganti and Greene (2002, p. 128) conceptualise the three terms as follows. First, immigrant entrepreneurs are described as: Individuals who, as recent arrivals in the country, start a business as a means of economic survival. This group may involve a migration network linking migrants, former migrants, and non-migrants with a common origin and destination (as cited in Chaganti & Greene, 2002). This definition is in line with what Drori, Honig, and Wright, M. (2009) label as transnational entrepreneurs (p. 1001). transnational entrepreneurs are individuals that migrate from one country to another, concurrently maintaining business related linkages with their former country of origin, and currently adopted countries and communities. Whereas, ethnic entrepreneurship is defined as (...) a set of connections and regular patterns of interaction among people sharing common national background or migration experiences (as cited in Chaganti & Greene, 2002, p. 128). Finally, minority entrepreneurs are business owners who are not of the majority population (p. 128). The latter group can, besides 12

14 ethnic minority members, also include female entrepreneurs. Chaganti and Greene (2002) argue that there exist intragroup differences between ethnic entrepreneurs. Some individuals show a higher concern for the own community and depend on their co-ethnics regarding finance and social contacts. Whereas others build less upon their community, and rely more on exchanges with the host society. Therefore, the degree of participation in the own ethnic group might be a better marker to define ethnic entrepreneurs, rather than to identify them based upon subscribed or self-ascribed identities (Chaganti & Greene, 2002). However, Zhou (2004) argues that we should not fixate too much on the technical details. What is most important is to understand that taking up entrepreneurship is a way out of unemployment for many migrants. The small businesses of ethnic entrepreneurs create opportunities for themselves and their personnel. Moreover, becoming self-employment can increase the economic interdependence of migrants and is a strategy to upward mobility (pp ). Light and Gold (2000), point out that an ethnic economy is made up of all the ethnic self-employed, the co-ethnic personnel, and all the unpaid family workers that operate within an ethnic business. In other words, an ethnic economy is ethnic because the personnel is ethnic (p. 10). In some places, a regional clustering of co-ethnic businesses exists, which Light and Gold refer to has the ethnic enclave economy (2000, p. 23). Entrepreneurs build such clusters to create a favourable environment where a collective of co-ethnic businesspeople can make more profits than outside such a structure. An ethnic enclave can strengthen a collective of entrepreneurs because it provides them with advantages similar to those experienced by monopolies. For example, ethnic entrepreneurs can make use of rotating credit systems to expand their entrepreneurial activities, and can control prices of products when they operate within specific (ethnic) niche markets. Finally, an ethnic enclave economy provides access for entrepreneurs to a pool of resources that allows them to recruit cheap co-ethnic labour forces. 13

15 Chapter 3: Methodology The focus of this study is to explore the complexities of the everyday life of ethnic entrepreneurs in a superdiverse context. El Raval, a neighbourhood situated in the heart of Barcelona, sets the stage for this inquiry. And, shopkeepers with Pakistani backgrounds act as the subjects in this study. I adopt a qualitative approach to explore the feelings, values, perceptions, and so on, that underlie and guide the behaviour of the ethnic entrepreneur, and embrace ethnography as a full intellectual program in this process (Blommaert & Dong, 2010, p. 7). Hence, participant observation carried out in the real-life environment of the ethnic entrepreneur functions as the primary method of data collection (Ybema et al., 2009, p. 23). However, also, I draw upon interviews and document analysis to approach the subjects under study from a different angle. Within this chapter, I first discuss some philosophical presuppositions related to ethnographic research, before drawing upon the ways in which I describe, analyse, and interpret the findings in detail. 3.1 Ethnography as a Paradigm As a full intellectual program, ethnography entails more than a range of tools that facilitate data collection. Rather, we can speak of an ethnographic paradigm that builds upon some ontological and epistemological presuppositions (Blommaert & Dong, 2010, pp. 7-9). By doing ethnography, I immerse myself in the life worlds of the subjects under study and follow an inductive procedure in conducting and analysing data. This approach brings into play an interpretive framework that understands social phenomena as being collectively constructed, with me as the ethnographer as fully part of these actions (Ybema et al., 2009, p. 7). An interpretive perspective builds upon the ontological assumption that reality is subjective (Creswell, 2007, p. 16). Therefore, I embrace the idea of multiple realities, since different researchers construct diverse worldviews, as do the individuals who participate in this study and the readers of this written report. Consequently, the analysis in this thesis includes a symbolic representation of a multiplicity of voices and interpretations through the stories of participants (Ybema et al., 2009 p. 8). Such narratives contribute to the insights and truth claims presented here. However, these descriptions emerge from the field, rather than being artificially collected. Thus, I aspire to lessen the distance between myself and my respondents, and co-generate the ethnographic knowledge together with those who participate in this study. Thereby, I acknowledge the axiological assumption that characterises qualitative interpretive research as value-laden (Creswell, 2007, p. 18). What is being observed is never neutral since I use a framework for understanding that informs my interpretation. The narratives voiced here, include the perceptions of my respondents (emic validity), as well as my own clarifications (etic validity) that I make explicit in my understanding of the findings (Creswell, 2007, p. 72). In this process, my personal background has affected my judgement. Thus, even though the procedure is inductive, no pure induction exists (Creswell, 2007, p. 18). Based on these premises, I adopt a constructivist ontological and interpretive epistemological perspective (Ybema et al., 2009, pp. 14

16 8-9). Moreover, I take my going native in the socio-cultural space into consideration, and embrace the assumption that the written account of a qualitative study must be presented in a personal and literary style (Creswell, 2007, p. 18). Therefore, I follow the style guide: From Notes to Narrative: Writing Ethnographies That Everyone Can Read (Ghodsee, 2016) in the hope to produce a credible and readable written account of my ethnographic enquiry to find an answer to my problem statement. 3.2 Ethnographic Fieldwork Ethnographic fieldwork refers to the activities that the ethnographer carries out within a particular context to gather a wide variety of materials that help to build an archive, which allows the researcher to produce a description and interpretation of a culture-sharing group (Creswell, 2007, pp ). In the scope of this study, El Raval provides the stage where a particular culture-sharing group works and lives, being shopkeepers with Pakistani backgrounds our case in point here. Blommaert and Dong (2010) divide ethnographic fieldwork into three phases: (1) prior to fieldwork; (2) during fieldwork; and (3) after fieldwork. In the first stage, the ethnographer prepares him or herself, and makes an effort to study the socio-cultural space at hand. Next, he or she enters the field to gain ethnographic knowledge through collecting data in several ways. Finally, the ethnographer describes, analyses, and interprets the findings in a written account of the research (pp ). However, there exists a blurred line between the second and third phase of doing fieldwork, since part of the interpretation of data already happens in the field (Blommaert & Dong, 2010, p. 63). My preparation to fieldwork in this study started in early March 2016, when I delivered a final research proposal and reached an agreement to carry it out in El Raval. Subsequently, I took up residence in the heart of the neighbourhood in Carrer d'en Robador between March 21, 2016, and June 15, 2016, which makes up for a fieldwork period of approximately three months. During this time, I participated in the local life of Pakistani entrepreneurs on an almost daily basis by visiting numerous ethnic shops. In this process, I relied upon a map published in a recent study of Guëll (2015, p. 7) that reveals the geographical locations of the Pakistani-owned businesses in El Raval (see page 19). I carried out observations in ethnic shops, while I visited these places as a customer. In this way, I was able to observe encounters between the Pakistani entrepreneurs and their diverse clientele that included co-ethnics, native Spanish, other kinds of visitors, and myself. This approach also facilitated the recruitment of some respondents who agreed to do interviews. Thus, I applied non-probability sampling by using a snowball technique to recruit interviewees (Sekaran & Bougie, 2014, pp ). However, I also came into contact with some other respondents via an experienced researcher who currently dedicates her research to the Pakistani community in Barcelona, within the framework of a PhD dissertation. In this way, this person acted both as a gatekeeper and informant in the scope of this study (Creswell, 2007, p. 71). Moreover, this also marked the start of a cooperation, in which we shared and discussed our ideas and data with each other, to enrich both our findings. In total, six semi-structured interviews (see Appendix A, pp for the interview guide) form part of this 15

17 study, of which five include the narratives of Pakistani entrepreneurs who currently run small businesses in El Raval. The remaining one, tells the story of a former Pakistani shopkeeper who now works as a civil servant and holds the position of intercultural mediator to facilitate communication between the Pakistani community and the mainstream society. I treat three of these interview transcripts as primary data since I conducted these interviews myself. The other three transcripts I shall use as secondary data since a co-researcher directed these conversations. Hence, I shall use these transcripts to enrich my data, but will not extract quotes from these transcripts to my analysis that I present later in this thesis. We conducted all interviews in English and recorded every conversation. Within this report, I use pseudonyms to secure the anonymity of the respondents. Respondents Type of Informant Date Interview Primary Harun Ethnic entrepreneur Nadim Ethnic entrepreneur Javaid Intercultural mediator Secondary Mehmud Ethnic entrepreneur Aamir Ethnic entrepreneur All conducted between December 2015 and Feroz Ethnic entrepreneur March 2016 Table 3.1: Primary & Secondary Interviews Apart from these interviews, I gathered documents about El Raval and the public discourse that pays attention to cultural diversity and the Pakistani community in particular. I collected some documents via the website of the Barcelona City Council and several online archives of newspapers. Whereas the co-researcher as mentioned earlier also provided me with valuable knowledge. I analysed these sources through content analysis with the purpose to gain a better understanding of the bigger picture, and to learn about the policies that the Barcelona City Council maintains regarding cultural diversity. Together with my field notes and photographs, this information forms the ethnographic corpus that lends itself to analysis and interpretation. Moreover, the incorporation of several sources (data triangulation) facilitates validation through cross verification from multiple perspectives (Blommaert & Dong, p. 65). Before being able to make the transition from writing up ethnographic research to writing ethnography (Ybema, et al., 2009), one needs to prepare the data for analysis. Therefore, I made full transcriptions of the interviews to create a written account of the respondents narratives, but also to facilitate the exchange of information with the other researcher. Subsequently, I started to organise the files of data, in order to manage the information. Afterwards, I read through these data while ascribing initial codes and making margin notes. Next, I described the settings, actors, and events that I captured during my fieldwork, before classifying and analysing the information to identify and highlight themes and patterns in the data (Creswell, 2007, pp ). In examining the data, I embraced the key 16

18 incident approach (as described by Kroon & Strum, 2007) as a tool to touch upon those recurring events that have sustaining influence, and show the universal in the concrete (Erickson as cited in Kroon & Strum, 2007, p. 3). Finally, I interpreted the results in the light of my conceptual framework. I present the end products of this process in chapter five of this thesis, which I structured into the three ethnographic aspects of description, analysis and interpretation of the culture-sharing group (Creswell, 2007, pp ). However, to a certain extent, these components sometimes also interweave with each other. Nonetheless, such thick descriptions contribute to the transferability and external validity of the ethnographic study (Creswell, 2007, p. 204). Corpora Respondents Sources Method of Analysis Sub-corpus I Ethnic entrepreneurs Intercultural Mediator Primary Interviews Secondary Interviews Observations Field notes Key Incident Approach Sub-Corpus II Barcelona City Council Diverse media Table 3.2: Schematic Overview of the Research Design 3.3 Limitations Policy plans Municipality websites Newspaper articles Academic articles Content Analysis A careful description of the limitations improves the confirmability of the study (Creswell, 2007, p. 204). Therefore, I will here describe the obstacles that I faced during my research, and discuss the choices that I made during fieldwork to deal with these problems. In the process of this study, I made some adjustments to the original research proposal. Initially, I planned to carry out observations in some ethnic shops, while being there constantly present for several hours during the day. However, such a strategy proved to be too intrusive while negotiating access to the research site. Moreover, me being there constantly present within the boundaries of a small ethnic shop, might have disrupted the natural environment too much which would have negatively affected the findings of the study. To compensate for this revision, I decided to continue doing observations as a customer but also started to observe from the streets. Consequently, I could see fewer events at a time, since me visiting the shops as a client meant that I had to do my observations in a somewhat restricted period of time, that of a shopping engagement. Therefore, the fieldwork period was extended from six weeks to three months to witness enough events to produce a fieldwork diary that was comprehensive enough for analysis and interpretation. I conducted this study in a polyglot context. The fact that Barcelona has both Castilian and Catalan as official languages made my life not easy. Moreover, Pakistani shopkeepers themselves may communicate in immigrant languages with their co-ethnics, and sometimes in English with tourists. This reality results in a situation where people speak a multitude of 17

19 languages. As an ethnographer who is doing research on conviviality in a superdiverse context, I particularly pay attention to the intercultural encounters between the ethnic entrepreneurs and their customers. These conversations take place in English or Castilian 1 given the fact that nonco-ethnic customers do not speak immigrant languages, and most ethnic shopkeepers cannot speak Catalan. Thus, these two languages serve as primary codes of communication in intercultural encounters. As an ethnographer, I am proficient in English, whereas I have an intermediate level of Castilian. Moreover, upon arrival, I subscribed for a Castilian language course to improve my understanding of the language in the process of doing fieldwork. However, even though I stand behind my interpretations, some nuances of the observed social interactions within ethnic shops might have gone lost in the process. On the one hand, I found it challenging to conduct this study in an unfamiliar environment. However, on the other hand, being a professional stranger helped me to see the extraordinary in those events that others perceive as ordinary. Besides, the opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with a local researcher on a regular basis, helped me to think from the outside as well as from the inside in order to make the strange familiar (Ybema, et al., 2009, pp ). Thus, I believe that my interpretation can provide the reader with an interesting perspective on the situation, despite that fact that communication takes place in a language other than my own. 1 Within this thesis, I use the term Castilian (in Spain referred to as Castellano or Español) to indicate the European variety of Spanish. I use the word Catalan when I specifically refer to the local language and speak about Spanish languages as an umbrella term to encapsulate all the languages spoken in and outside Spain, including Catalan, Basque, Galician and South American Spanish. 18

20 Chapter 4: El Raval & the Pakistani Community Within this chapter, I present the place and community under study. First, I give a description of El Raval based upon my fieldwork experience, before linking the context to theory. Second, I introduce the Pakistani Community that resides in El Raval. 4.1 The Neighbourhood Figure 4.1: Location of Pakistani-owned Businesses in El Raval (originally published in Guëll, 2016) 19

21 Late March 2016 I set food in El Raval for the first time. After having arrived in the city centre, I walk towards my residence in Carrer d'en Robador via Las Ramblas, a three-lined pedestrian promenade filled with many restaurants and retail shops on each side of the middle path. Las Ramblas bridges a one-kilometre distance between the city centre and the harbour and separates the Gothic quarter in the east from El Raval in the west. In this street, I see many tourists enjoying food and drinks in restaurants, finding entertainment at one of the many street artists, exploring market stands, or, lingering in the broad and open space. The landscape changes as soon as I turn right and enter Carrer Hospital, a long and narrow street that stretches from Las Ramblas to Sant Antoni, and runs right through the heart of El Raval. Whereas Las Ramblas is full of stores and restaurants promoting global brands, Carrer Hospital has an intimate and colourful bazaar-like landscape, filled with many small shops, bars, and ethnic restaurants. Besides Castilian Spanish, many stores display a variety of immigrant languages on their signs as a second language, and, sometimes, English as a third. As I am walking through this street, I find it remarkable to find designer bars located next to halal butchers based in poorly maintained premises. Similarly, diverse people live their lives next to each other. Tourists, who have gotten off of the beaten track, loiter through the streets. People chatting in Castilian stand in line in coffee bars. Youngsters are skateboarding in the streets, and women wearing burkas walk on the sidewalks with their children in baby strollers. Halfway Carrer Hospital, the landscape changes again when the narrow path gives way to the Rambla del Raval, a surrealistic landmark in the middle of a multitude of narrow streets. Two lines of palm trees divide the middle path of the Rambla del Raval in three lanes. On the two outer avenues, tourists consume drinks and make small talk on the terraces. Some visitors stroll in the middle lane. Here there are no terraces but only public benches, mainly occupied by homeless people and their few belongings. I observe a few shops located at the right end of the Rambla del Raval, of which some of the premises are under construction. On the left side, I spot a designer hotel with a rooftop terrace and a small square behind it. Children play cricket on the plaza, while some of their parents watch them while they sit on the surrounding benches. After passing the hotel, I arrive at La Filmoteca de Catalunya, a modern and recently established cultural institution right in the heart of the most marginalised part of the neighbourhood. A small plaza and a designer bar, mainly filled with young visitors, set the stage for this building. On the left side of the square, I observe a small playground and a few benches. A few elders make use of the seats while chatting. Some mothers, who seem to come from diverse ethnic backgrounds, are talking near the playground while their children play. One side of the plaza runs parallel with Carrer de Sant Pau, a narrow street densely populated with mobile phone shops, which connects the square with Las Ramblas. Another side runs parallel with one end of Carrer d'en Robador, a street of which the other end funnels down into a dark and narrow back alley. Like many other places in El Raval, old and new stand side by side in Carrer d'en Robador. On the left, I find a new apartment building and a modern Greek restaurant, whereas on the right, I see that the commercial premises and flats seem old and untouched. As I move towards my apartment, I notice some men hanging around and drinking beer on the sidewalk. 20

22 And, some prostitutes walk back and fro between the two ends of the street. When I finally arrive at my front door, I see some banners placed on the balconies of the gentrified side of the road, displaying a phrase in Catalan: volem un barri digne!! ( we want a decent neighbourhood ). Figure 4.2: Carrer d'en Robador Figure 4.3: Rambla del Raval Context Analysis The description above reveals two faces of El Raval. On the one hand, the district provides shelter to marginalised people who carry out criminal activities in the dark back alleys of the district. On the other hand, the neighbourhood houses new apartment buildings and multiple touristic landmarks that attract many visitors. The district forms part of the Ciutat Vella (the old city). The ambiguity of El Raval is a result of the urban planning projects that the area experienced during the past few decades. Traditionally, the district was the cradle of the industrial revolution in Barcelona, and home to the working class community. However, in the post-industrial era, the neighbourhood gradually transformed into a notorious red light district and drug haven. At this time, many considered El Raval a no-go area, and the region became inhabited by the lowest strata of society (Degen, 2003, p. 867). Gentrification projects aimed to homogenise El Raval with the rest of the city. Stimulated by the hostage of the Olympic Games, public funded regeneration took off in the 1990s. Degen (2003), states that urban renewal in Barcelona is part of a wider reformation of the global economy and place. She understands gentrification as a process embedded in a fight for the global catwalk and argues that cities apply urban renewal as a strategy to become more attractive for business and leisure (p. 867). In the case of Barcelona, the transformation of El Raval forms part of a strategic discourse, aiming to turn the negative image of the area around by creating an appealing type of sensuous public landscape (p. 871). With gentrification projects, authorities ascribe new functions to historical sites in El Raval. Places such as churches and working class quarters convert into modern museums, cultural institutions, bookshops, and designer bars. Especially the area towards Plaça Catalunya, nowadays hosts major cultural 21

23 flagships, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). However, gentrification in El Raval is not solely an attempt to market the neighbourhood, but also a way to impose control over the area. El Raval is home to several migrant communities, such as the Moroccans, Pakistanis, and Indians. Nonetheless, none of the transformed public spaces serve these groups. In contrast, the new functions ascribed to public spaces attract outsiders such as students and young adults who belong to the economic middle class. The goal of such developments is to construct a social mix in the area, with the aim to dilute the neighbourhood from its most marginalised inhabitants and their criminal activities (p. 873). Creating a socially diverse population is a way to combat ghettoisation since new residents make a stand against marginalisation. This resistance is also evident from the description above. The banners that display the phrase volem un barri digne!! (Catalan for: we want a decent neighbourhood ), formed part of a campaign that aimed to tackle marginal activities in El Raval, such as prostitution, drug dealing, and public intoxication. Moreover, gentrification has caused and still causes increases in renting costs, which forces some of the most vulnerable inhabitants to move away from the area. Thus, the altering of public spaces in El Raval serves not only cultural enrichment but also is a tool to tackle marginality in the district. Nevertheless, current residents cannot just be displaced. The neighbourhood remains densely populated, and inhabitants resist the changes imposed on them by the City Council (Degen, 2003). Castells (2011), points out that over the past few years, the world has witnessed numerous protest movements led by migrants who resist the global structuring of inequality. Instead of being passive sufferers, migrants adopt new forms of agency and combat inequality. Such actions range from collective movements to individual strategies (pp ). Degen (2003), gives one example of such an action, by drawing upon a demonstration organised by locals in El Raval during which inhabitants demanded recognition. In this event, locals renamed Plaça dels Angels, the square that accompanies the MACBA museum, as the square of nations, to hint on the ethnically diverse population of El Raval (p. 878). Moreover, one respondent whom I encountered during my fieldwork explained that there was much resistance when authorities started the construction of the Rambla del Raval in the heart of the neighbourhood. Multiple shops and houses had to be taken down to build this landmark, which caused great disbelief among some parts of the population. Such urban changes in El Raval were publicly criticised and also became the topic of the documentary film En Construcción by José Luis Guerin. The sum of these developments made the City Council reconsider their actions (Marzorati, 2011). At present, the multicultural character of El Raval functions as a marker for promoting the authenticity of the neighbourhood. By launching multiple campaigns, the City Council aimed to turn the negative image of El Raval around and to make the district representative for the real Barcelona. One example is the campaign centred around the word ravalejar, in which the City Council converted the name of the neighbourhood into a verb to improve the perception of the district (Ulldemolins, 2014). Besides, gentrification budgets underwent cutbacks in the 22

24 wake of the economic crisis, and El Raval witnessed a new influx of immigrants. Primarily, Pakistanis settled in the neighbourhood due to the presence of an ethnic enclave. Nowadays, El Raval remains an area where many immigrants reside, and some people still perceive the district as a no-go area. Despite several projects, the City Council failed to impose full control over the area. Regeneration projects have altered social relations in the district. However, the effects have yet failed to touch upon all parts of El Raval. Nevertheless, in one way or another, the City Council seemed to have improved life in this neighbourhood without applying a wholesale gentrification process that we observe in many other urban areas within Europe (Shaftoe, 2012, p. 90). 4.2 The Pakistani Community in El Raval The number of Pakistanis immigrating into Spain has been relatively stable in the last few years. In fact, in some places, the number of Pakistani residents slightly decreased (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 2015). Nonetheless, over the last few decades, Spain witnessed an enormous influx of Pakistani immigrants who arrived in Spain from the 1970s onwards, when migration policies in traditional destinations became stricter. Consequently, Pakistanis dispersed over other countries. Despite the absence of cultural, linguistic, and historical ties between Pakistan and Spain, the latter became an attractive destination due to growing labour opportunities and high chances of obtaining a residence permit (Güell, 2016). Nowadays, a total of 79,619 registered Pakistanis resides in Spain (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 2015), of which more than half live in Catalonia. In total, 19,432 Pakistani immigrants have taken up residence in Barcelona. The community is a very masculine one since there live 14,650 men in opposition to 4,782 women (Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2015a). On average, Pakistanis are 30 years old, which is significantly younger than indigenous citizens. Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims and maintain low levels of education. Many of them did not belong to the lowest strata of society in Pakistan. Frequently, they come from small landowning families, which made them capable of covering the high travel costs to reach Spain (Molina, et al., 2015). There is a concentration of Pakistani residents in El Raval. Within this neighbourhood, they contribute for 10.8% (5092 inhabitants) of the entire population of 47,142 residents (Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2015b). Similarly, there is a clustering of Pakistani-owned businesses, which correlates with the residential pattern of this group. The concentration of shops is most apparent in the streets located in the less gentrified areas of El Raval, such as Joaquim Costa, Riera Alta, Sant Antoni Abat, de la Cera, Carretes, Rambla del Raval, and Sant Pau (Degen, 2003; Güell, 2016). Particularly in the last decade, the community became very active as self-employed, with a tripling of Pakistani entrepreneurs in Barcelona (Güell, 2016). Among immigrants, Pakistanis are most dynamic regarding entrepreneurship, meaning that they profile themselves as a high-entrepreneurship group (Light & Gold, 2000, p. 11). El Raval contains over 250 Pakistani-owned shops, of which many operate in a specialised niche market. In this district, shopkeepers situate themselves in a context located close to the touristic centre. Here, diverse people participate in local life. Hence, many entrepreneurs turn their entrepreneurial 23

25 activities towards a diverse clientele. Shops, such as travel agencies, video clubs, and hairdressers, offer their products and services to co-ethnics. However, other stores, such as mobile phone outlets, restaurants, and convenience stores serve a wider variety of people, including tourists and indigenous citizens (Güell, 2016). During fieldwork, I frequently visited those streets located close to touristic hotspots, such as Joaquim Costa, Rambla del Raval and Sant Pau. The ethnic shops that operate in specialised niches and attract tourists are most apparent in these streets. Whereas, I observed a stronger concentration of businesses that serve co-ethnic clientele in other parts of El Raval. Two causes explain the tendency among Pakistani migrants to become self-employed. First, many Pakistanis lack the right qualifications to occupy jobs in the mainstream labour market. Therefore, many set up small businesses as an alternative to upward mobility (Güell, 2016; Molina et al., 2015). Newcomers start to work as employees in the shops owned by their co-ethnics, before establishing small businesses of their own that often replicate the business models of their former employers. Second, scholars ascribe cultural causes to entrepreneurship among Pakistani migrants. Molina et al. (2015), point out that all Pakistani entrepreneurs who participated in their study expressed a strong desire to become masters of their own work (p. 382), something also frequently mentioned by respondents in this study. According to Molina et al. (2015), the impact of the economic crisis is weaker within the Pakistani enclave economy, causing some entrepreneurs to take advantage of the situation by expanding their commercial activities, now that the rental costs of premises decrease. Combined with the saturation of the ethnic economy in El Raval, this opportunity explains the spread of Pakistani-owned shops to other parts of the city (Güell, 2016). 24

26 Chapter 5: Results The following chapter contains three major parts. First, I present a description that I wrote based upon my field notes. Second, I provide an analysis of the lives of Pakistani entrepreneurs in El Raval. And, finally, I interpret these findings in the light of my conceptual framework. 5.1 A Description of a Day in the Life of Harun At the beginning of May, I visit a Pakistani entrepreneur in Carrer Joaquin Costa, a street which runs down from the metro stop Universitat to the heart of El Raval, situated near the MACBA museum. Joaquin Costa attracts many youngsters who like to explore Barcelona's nightlife since the street is full of favourite bars and runs parallel to the Plaça dels Àngels, a skateboarding hotspot in Europe. But, the street is also rich of small businesses such as shops and restaurants. Somewhere in the middle of Joaquin Costa, Harun runs a traditional Pakistani bakery. Above his shop, a colourful signboard is placed with an image of Fort Rohtas, a famous landmark in Punjabi. Several phrases that are written in Urdu, Castilian, and English, saying Bakers and Sweet Shop, complete the composition 2. When I enter the store, Harun is talking with a customer, and when I approach him, he looks up, expecting me to place an order. It takes him a split second to realise that I am the person who visited his shop earlier, and with whom he had an appointment today at 10 pm to talk about his life as an immigrant entrepreneur in El Raval. Harun asks me to take place behind the counter and to wait for a moment while he helps a customer. The shop is narrow and deep. On the right side of the door, there is a showcase filled with takeaway snacks, together with a refrigerator that contains soda drinks. On the left side, the counter is placed which also functions as a showcase that displays Pakistani sweets. Harun is helping the customer on the other end of the counter. When this person leaves, Harun walks over to me, he sighs and explains that his only co-worker is on holidays in Pakistan and that he has to take care of the shop on his own, which is also the reason that he invited me to come at the end of his working day. For the next one and half hour, we talk about his life in El Raval and why he traded Pakistan for Spain. Harun tells me that he moved here about six years ago because of his Catalan wife. But, also the economic aspect played a role. He explains that many Pakistanis come to Europe in the hope to establish a better life here, without really knowing what to expect. Eventually, he says, many end up in Spain because it is relatively easy to take up residence here. Occasionally, people enter the store, and Harun has to excuse himself to serve his clients. When a man walks in, Harun addresses him as señor (Castilian for: mister/sir ) and asks for his order. The client likes to buy a baguette but is told that the bread is still in the oven. 2 During our conversation, Harun and I talked about the signboard above his shop, and he told me that the image is an illustration of Fort Rohtas and that the written texts are in Urdu, Castilian, and English (Harun, personal communication, May 5, 2016). 25

27 Consequently, the customer decides to wait for a little while. Harun makes some small talk with the man, whom he seems to know since he notices something out of the ordinary when he says dónde está la niña? (Castilian for: where is the girl? ), to which the customer replies that the child is with her mother. Next, two youngsters with skateboards enter the store whom Harun addresses as amigos (Castilian for: friends). They walk up and down the showcase filled with Pakistani sweets a few times, before ordering. During this ritual, Harun tells them about the flavours of the sweets in Castilian but also throws in a few words of English when he realises that these customers come from abroad. After a little way, Harun returns to me and utters shout, mate, to indicate that we can continue our conversation. When I ask Harun about the previous events, he explains that different people come to his shop to buy various products. He points to the showcase in the counter and explains that those are typical Pakistani and Indian products. Next, he points to the sweets displayed in the other showcase behind the shop window on the street side and says that those products must attract tourists. He continues to tell that he has many regular customers and that the presence of the Asian community in El Raval was an important reason to open a shop here. However, he also points out that he has many Catalan customers and that he maintains good relationships with them. He describes them as sympathetic, and easy to befriend. The strategic location of his shop close to the touristic centre has also proven to be precious. We talk a little bit more about the work ethic of the Pakistani community before Harun needs to close his shop, not too long before midnight. 5.2 Analysis The vignette above provides a window into the life of Harun, who, like many other Pakistanis, settled in Barcelona within the last ten years in the hope to build a better life. Harun moved directly from Pakistan to Spain because of his Catalan wife. However, several of his coethnics who participated in this study told their stories. Some of them lived in other countries, such as Russia, England and Austria, but moved to Spain, either for the favourable climate or business opportunities. Whereas, others followed family members that had travelled ahead years ago and applied for family reunification. Nevertheless, the description above is illustrative of the lives of many respondents. They all decided to take up residence in El Raval because of the presence of a well-established Pakistani community, opened a small business, and now spend many hours in their shops. When asked about their motivations to set up a business, respondents answered that they preferred to be an entrepreneur over working for somebody else. Nonetheless, most of them could not fully explain their preference. Some of them believe that it is harder for Pakistani migrants to find work. However, when asked about their personal stories, none reported to have ever applied for a job in the mainstream labour market. All of them set up their businesses short after their arrival in Spain. Or, they worked in the shop of a co-ethnic first, before establishing their own stores. One respondent pointed out that owning a shop is what most Pakistanis strive for, even though many of them were not entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Hence, it remains unclear whereas, a 26

28 favourable opportunity structure in the host society, cultural, or structural causes explain the high entrepreneurship profile among Pakistani migrants. Yet, one respondent made an interesting remark which reads as follows: I think that...sometimes I think we ignore this historical...euhm, dimension of the problem. But at the end the historical dimension is very important, because from my father, from my...euhm grandfather...they never got the opportunity to do something. When they tried to do something, the...the government...yeah made it impossible [to start an own business]. In the case of my father, my father tried everything! Working very hard, to...to live, and to...support his family, because it was impossible. Really impossible. For that reason...when he came here, the first desire he have, was open a textile shop (...) (Interview Javaid, June 2016). Here, the interviewee talks about the corrupt situation in Pakistan that made it impossible for many people from the middle and lower middle class to start their own businesses. In his view, it is this contrast between the limit possibilities in Pakistan and the opportunities that lay before them in Spain that explains their desire to become entrepreneurs. Thus, in the view of this respondent, we cannot explain the high entrepreneurship profile that the community maintains by only attributing this to the favourable opportunity structure, cultural factors (as in particular common values and skills), or structural factors. But, also need to take into consideration the personal backgrounds of these migrants. The high concentration of Pakistani residents and businesses in El Raval provides the shopkeepers with the advantages of an ethnic enclave economy (Light & Gold, 2000). The geographical concentration of the Pakistani community gives entrepreneurs access to a pool of resources, which equips them with co-ethnic personnel and opportunities to request funding for establishing or expanding businesses. Many entrepreneurs hire co-ethnics to work in their shops by word of mouth recruitment. Often, shopkeepers employ people recommended to them by friends or family or select co-ethnics who come to their businesses and file spontaneous applications. However, one respondent also pointed out that many shopkeepers recruit co-ethnics via the social media pages of the Pakistani diaspora in Barcelona. Frequently, people who are looking for personnel leave a brief message behind on such pages, that contains a short job description and their contact details, to which interested individuals can reply. In the case of Harun, he chooses Pakistani employees since he sells traditional Asian sweets, and prefers to work with people who are familiar with the manufacturing of these products. However, other respondents report that it is convenient for them to recruit co-ethnics since it facilitates communication. Many Pakistanis arrived in Spain recently and have a limited command of Castilian and Catalan. Therefore, most of them rely on co-ethnic workers. Moreover, entrepreneurs look for flexible employees who can work for long hours and at weekends. Often, only co-ethics, or employees coming from other immigrant populations, accept these requirements (see also Güell, 2016). Apart from Pakistani workers, some entrepreneurs report that they also recruit employees with Bengali or Indian backgrounds. Here, it is interesting that, despite clashes between India and Pakistan, these two ethnicities group together. In this 27

29 respect, the similar migration experience shared between the two functions as a binding factor (Feliu, et al., 2012). In some cases, the ethnic enclave strengthens a collective of co-ethnic entrepreneurs. Regarding Pakistanis in El Raval, this is most evident in the telecommunications sector. Carrer de Sant Pau knows a dense territorial clustering of mobile phone shops, which gave the street a reputation as the place to purchase cheap cell phones. A notoriety that far surpasses the borders of the neighbourhood, and attracts diverse customers coming from other parts of Barcelona, or even from abroad. The examples of Harun and Sant Pau indicate that Pakistani entrepreneurs function self-sufficiently since they live and work with co-ethnics. However, due to their high-entrepreneurship profile, the community is very visible in the public domain, and their shops serve a clientele beyond their community. They keep to themselves in many domains of life, but, with their ethnic stores, participate in the local economy. Hence, in various realms, different degrees of conviviality exist between Pakistani entrepreneurs on the one hand and people with other backgrounds on the contrary. Therefore, I will make a distinction between conviviality in public and parochial domain in the remaining part of this analysis Conviviality in the Public Domain Within El Raval, Pakistani entrepreneurs are especially active within the food and telecommunications sectors. Consequently, people mark particular streets like Sant Pau as ethnic, but also frequently address convenience stores as Pakis. Thus, the presence of these businesses contributes to the visibility of Pakistanis in the neighbourhood. Just like other ordinary spaces such as streets, squares, parks, and public transport, (ethnic) shops shape the public domain. Along with public discourses that give attention to cultural diversity, the participation of cultural groups in the public realm, shapes the attitudes of others towards minorities (Wessendorf, 2013). Many ethnic stores attract diverse customers, and for various reasons. Some attract Spanish clients who appreciate the extended opening hours of Pakistani shops, and the fact that they are the only places open for business on Sundays and Christian holidays. Whereas in other cases, customers prefer these stores because of the ethnic nature of products. On one occasion, I asked a Spanish customer why he visited a Halal butcher. He answered me that he prefers to buy there any day of the week since Pakistanis regard a careful preparation of meat necessary for reasons of religion, which made him trust this shopkeeper more than non-ethnic supermarkets. Additionally, some Pakistani entrepreneurs make an effort to attract a diverse clientele, primarily those with telecommunications and food related businesses. Harun, for example, opened a strategically located business and developed a unique product range to attract tourists. When walking in the streets of El Raval, one can recognise such strategies in the linguistic landscaping of ethnic shops. Ethnic businesses such as Internet points operate within a particular niche market. Customers cannot afford an internet connection, or cannot apply for one because they reside in El Raval unregistered. This group mainly consists of co-ethnics. Therefore, these shops make little effort to attract indigenous Spanish or visitors. Given the fact that this is obligatory, they advertise their activities in limited Castilian, but especially in the immigrant language. In contrast, entrepreneurs like Harun make use of signboards and advertisements 28

30 within their shop windows that market their products in migrant languages, Castilian, and English to attract a more diverse clientele. Thus with multilingual displays, entrepreneurs signal that customers who do not belong to the own ethnic community are welcome in their shops. The transformation of El Raval caused by gentrification and tourism altered social relations in the neighbourhood, and confronts shopkeepers with a diversified milieu. But, these are not the only developments that explain the motivations of shopkeepers to attract diverse customers. Some sectors of the ethnic enclave economy face saturation, due to the duplication of certain types of businesses. Upon arrival in Spain, many Pakistanis start to work in ethnic shops. During their service, they gather information on their co-ethnics and shape their personal business strategies on those observed among their employers (B. Güell, personal communication, May 29, 2016). Newcomers assume that their businesses will work in this location because they see that the shops of others work in this place. These shopkeepers do not necessarily feel connected to those sites, but mainly settle there for economic reasons. As one respondent pointed out: They [the new shopkeepers] will open [shops] in the Amazon jungle also if they knew this is working. Local business saturation in El Raval not only causes some entrepreneurs to move away from the area but, combined with the effects of the economic crisis, also forces shopkeepers to adapt generalist business approaches (Güell, 2016, p. 22). Against the backdrop of these developments, many ethnic shops nowadays function as contact points between the Pakistani community and others. In their daily activities, shopkeepers need to deal with a clientele that differs from themselves in multiple ways. The most obvious boundary in this context is language. Harun demonstrates that he is capable of switching between several codes. Effortlessly, he seems to shift between Urdu, Castilian, and English, depending on his clientele. During such interactions, he sometimes talks about the products. But, also makes small-talk and transmits signals of recognition when he uses phrases like dónde está la niña? to indicate that he has noticed something out of the ordinary. Harun believes that such behaviour is necessary to establish a connection with his customer. He holds the opinion that, as a shopkeeper, you have to talk about something since it is good for business. For Harun, code-switching has become an internal feature of his everyday life. He is used to different languages and does his best to make people feel at ease. One way of doing this, is to change his greetings according to his customers: when a middle-aged man enters his store, Harun addresses him as señor, but switches to amigos when two youngsters come in, and to mate when he resumes the conversation with myself. In this way, Harun makes every person feel welcome. He not only communicates across ethnic difference but also includes insignia of age and class since utterances like amigos and señor distinguish between people with different statuses. Alike Harun, many shopkeepers switch between linguistic codes while carrying out their daily activities. When asked about how they communicate with their customers, most traders report speaking in Urdu with co-ethnics, English with tourists, and Castilian with domestic clients. Remarkably, none of the participants said to speak in Catalan. The city of Barcelona maintains an interculturalist approach towards managing cultural diversity. The arrival of migrants from all over the world complexifies coexistence and social 29

31 cohesion. To deal with this contemporary reality, the City Council proposed a new global strategy that promotes positive interaction, dialogue, and familiarisation with the aim to deal with the complexities posed by diversification. Increasingly decisive impact is given to local government bodies that have the responsibility to improve interaction between diverse citizens in day-to-day life. As part of this strategy, the Catalan language must serve as a means for social cohesion. It is important that every citizen knows at least the two official languages, Castilian and Catalan. However, this model especially emphasises the importance of the latter, and describes it as a factor of social cohesion and generator of opportunities (Barcelona City Council, 2009, p. 33; but see also Pujolar, 2010). Hence, social agents have developed integration programs to teach Catalan to migrants. In the most recent past, Barcelona Activa, an integrated part of the City Council that stimulates economic growth in the city, promoted a program among ethnic entrepreneurs to take courses in Catalan. However, many Pakistani shopkeepers said to be unaware of these initiatives. Moreover, several respondents admitted to prefer learning Castilian instead of Catalan, since they believe the first is most practical in that it is a language of wider communication. Present-day Barcelona hosts many Spanish citizens born outside Catalonia, who speak Castilian but not Catalan. In contrast, Catalan-born citizens learned both languages. Due to these circumstances, Castilian functions as a lingua franca in many domains of life within Barcelona. Therefore, many immigrants think learning Castilian is the most logical choice. However, there are also Pakistani entrepreneurs in El Raval who maintain a limited command of any of the Spanish languages in general. How then, do these individuals communicate with their customers? The following two examples capture the ways in which such shopkeepers complete transactions with their clientele. I am walking in the streets of El Raval when it starts to rain. On the spot, I decide to buy an umbrella since I did not bring one with me to Barcelona. I choose to visit a Pakistani-owned shop located in Carrer Hospital, not too far away from here. I enter the store and spot the shopkeeper behind the counter. He is talking with a customer, who seems to be of the same ethnicity. I pass the two men and greet them in Castilian. The shopkeeper responds in kind, and I start to browse the shop. After a little while, I pick up an umbrella and return to the counter. The other client has left the store and at this moment me and the vendor are the only two persons inside. I hand over the product. Without saying a word, the shopkeeper carefully starts to unpack the umbrella, even though I had not asked for this. I assume that he understands that I want to use it straightaway, considering the circumstances outside. When he finishes unwrapping the umbrella, the vendor opens it to demonstrate that it is intact. Next, he points at the price tag and asks cortar? (Castilian for: to cut?), to which I agree. I offer the vendor eight euros, and in exchange, he gives me the umbrella. We greet each other, and I leave the store (Fieldwork diary, April 2016). What we can we see in this vignette? Not the effortless code-switching from Harun; there may be some adjustment since the shopkeeper can respond in Castilian when I greet him, and he can clarify himself when he asks permission to cut the price tag. However, we can rather find significance in the respectful gestures that the vendor falls back on to conclude the transaction. The shopkeeper goes the extra mile when he makes an effort to unpack the umbrella for me, 30

32 whereas he also could have given it to me directly. It signals that he is comfortable with me being there in his shop, despite the language barrier that exists between us. It is a moment of entanglement in which the transaction between seller and buyer seems to overrule cultural difference that exists between us. Based on her observations in the context of a multilingual barbershop in Frankfurt, Eley (2015) introduces the term interactional sensitivities to explain how individuals with varying levels of German proficiency guide communication between them. This concept serves as an umbrella term for the various strategies that people with discrepant language repertoires use, to bring across their point in a way so that the other understands it. Interactional sensitivities consist of a wide range of practices to resolve communication discrepancies, including code-switching; conscious repetition to highlight critical information; shifting to simplified language forms to level the other s framework; translation and interpretation; and acting out meanings by drawing upon bodily gestures and the use of objects. Within everyday spaces where superdiversity has become a daily reality, interactional sensitivity involves forms of ecumenical speech, meaning that participants maintain a set of improvisations to communicate across linguistic diversity and various levels of language command (Eley, 2015, p. 19). This term derives from the notion of eocumencial Dutch, first coined by Blommaert (2014). Drawing upon a superdiverse neighbourhood in Antwerp, he argues that this phenomenon enables an open channel of interaction over and beyond the extreme diversity of communicating actors, over and beyond degrees of fluency and control over the language, thus forming the glue for conviviality (p. 434). In El Raval, interactional sensitivities are present among Pakistani entrepreneurs with limited command of Castilian, but can also be observed among (indigenous) vendors who are fluent in the language but have to deal with customers from abroad. On one occasion, I witnessed how a Castilian speaking employee working in a flagship store of a global mobile network provider, used an online translation machine to be able to communicate with an English speaking customer. Similarly, Wessendorf (2014) observed how a client in a supermarket used an interpreter via her cell phone to be able to talk with an employee, and how people perceive this as something normal in superdiverse neighbourhoods. Another example: I am cueing in a store located in one of the narrow alleys near the Rambla del Raval. The vendor is a man, probably in his 50s. He is helping a native customer in front of me but seems to speak very little Castilian or Catalan. The customer has handed over some bedlinen, and now the shopkeeper shows him the price on a calculator. The man decides to pay with a 20 euro note. The vendor looks at this bill for a moment, before he goes through his cash register a few times. It becomes obvious that he is unable to deliver his client the right amount of change. However, the vendor does not come across as very panicked. Together with a plastic bag, he hands over the bedlinen again to his customer and makes a hand gesture, signalling the customer to wait. The vendor leaves the store with the 20 euro note still in his hand. He crosses the road and enters one of the mobile phone shops on the opposite of the narrow street. I can see him talking with the entrepreneur in the other shop, who he probably asks to help him out. The customer is still in the shop and does not come across as anxious. From the context, he seems to understand what is going on. After a little while, the vendor returns and sums up the exact amount of change before 31

33 the eyes of his client, who takes his money afterwards. The two men exchange greetings and the customer leaves (Fieldwork diary, March 2016). Again, almost no oral interaction takes place between the seller and buyer. However, the customer is not taken aback by the fact that the shopkeeper speaks either little Castilian or Catalan, nor by the event that he temporary leaves the shop. The whole scene does not come across as something extraordinary to the client. Despite their differences, mutual respect, trust, and recognition seem to be present between the two men. Both accept each other s roles as seller and buyer in this social interaction. In this respect, conviviality as in doing togetherness hides in the banal encounter produced within this shop. Here, conviviality does not involve the discussion of cultural or sociolinguistic diversity itself, but the fact that two diverse individuals get something done together. Thus, there exists some synergy. Nowadays, many Pakistani entrepreneurs try to take advantage of growing tourism in El Raval. The neighbourhood houses some hotels and hostels, and numerous touristic attractions. Also visitors appreciate the long opening hours of ethnic shops. Frequently, one can observe tourists visiting stores located close to their residences. Pakistani shopkeepers seem accustomed to travellers, and often they can converse with them. Many Pakistani immigrants who attended education in their home country, report being able to communicate in English. Due to the country's history, English occupies a prominent place in Pakistan and consequently became part of the local culture. Moreover, several respondents went through complex migration trajectories before settling in Spain. Therefore, some of them lived in other countries or maintain transnational business relationships, which makes these entrepreneurs more accustomed to an international public. Proficiency in English may give Pakistanis an advantage over some of their Spanish peers, who are less familiar with the language. During fieldwork, I frequently observed tourists visiting a shop located near a hostel in Carrer Hospital. The shopkeepers within this store maintained an openness towards visitors, which I would like to illustrate with the following example: I am walking through Carrer Hospital when I approach the Asian Superstore from the left side. On each side of the entrance, there are small displays, which advertise in multiple languages that the shop sells ethnic products from several countries. I can see that there are some customers inside, and I decide to enter myself. I suspect that it is somewhat busier today since it is currently Sunday, which means that the major supermarket chains are closed. I notice two Germanspeaking women when I enter the shop. They are browsing the store while they chat with each other. After a little while, one of the women approaches a vendor in the store and starts to speak to him in English. She seems to come to the point straight away and asks where she can find a particular product in the store without actually checking if the man can understand her. However, the shopkeeper reacts by no means surprised. He invites the German woman and her friend to follow him as he guides them towards the right place, while he chats with them in English (Fieldwork diary, March 2016). 32

34 Figure 5.1: Multilingual Display in El Raval Like other examples discussed in this chapter, the event above illustrates the normalcy of a diverse clientele within ethnic shops in the neighbourhood. Pakistani entrepreneurs seem comfortable in dealing with customers outside their ethnic group. Within El Raval, immigrants contribute for almost half the population of the district. Combined with the presence of tourists from all over the world, this results in a superdiverse context. Consequently, for many who live 33