Family Firms,Networks and ‘Ethnic Enterprise’: Chinese Food Industry in Britain

Chinese family enterprises in the United Kingdom have penetrated many different sectors of the economy, including restaurants, wholesaling, retailing, trading, manufacturing, property development, computer services and investment holding. Among the companies in these sectors, those involved in different segments of the food industry, as manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers, reputedly feature characteristics of Chinese culture. A majority of these enterprises, for example, function as family firms. This study explores the assertion that, among companies owned by ethnic minorities, culture strongly influences form of business development. This argument will be assessed through a focus on Chinese food-based enterprises in the UK. Two family-controlled companies, Seven Seas (Frozen Food) Ltd and Dayat Foods Packaging Ltd, were selected as case studies as they are involved in key business components of the Chinese food chain industry. Through an in-depth comparative study of the history and development of these two firms, we consider the argument that Chinese businesses have evolved well because of family ties and their inclusion in mutually-beneficial ethnically-constructed networks. Through these case studies, we provide an alternative perspective to diasporic Chinese business development which brings into question the extensive use of the concept of ethnic enterprise.

Perceptions of the criminal justice system by minority and majority group university students: The role of ethnic identity

Minorities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and prior research has indicated ethnic minorities and Whites have different opinions of and different experiences within the system. While differences have been shown, the influence of ethnic identity on perceptions of the legal system has been overlooked. The purpose of the present research was to determine if there were differences in perceptions of the legal system by ethnic identity levels for ethnic minorities and Whites. Results indicated differences do exist and ethnic identity is a crucial issue in understanding resonance with the legal system. Future directions for incorporating ethnic identity in research on the criminal justice system are discussed.     

The Relationship of Acculturation and Social Integration to Assaults on Intimate Partners Among Mexican American and Non-Mexican White Students

This study examined the role that Mexican ethnicity, acculturation into Anglo American society, and social integration play in intimate partner violence among a sample of 348 college students. The results indicated that Mexican American ethnicity and acculturation into Anglo American society by Mexican American college students had no relation to intimate partner violence. However, integration into society was associated with a decreased probability of severely assaulting a partner among both Mexican Americans and Non-Mexican Whites. The results support a control theory perspective (social integration) on intimate partner violence.     

Immigration,intermarriage and the changing face of Europe in the post war period

In this article we compare the propensity to intermarry of various migrant groups and their children who settled in Germany, France, England, Belgium and the Netherlands in the post-war period, using a wide range of available statistical data. We try to explain different intermarriage patterns within the framework of Alba and Nee's assimilation theory and pay special attention to the role of religion, colour and colonial background. We therefore compare colonial with non colonial migrants and within these categories between groups with ‘European’ (Christian) and non-European (Islam, Hinduism) religions. First of all, religion appears to be an important variable. Migrants whose faith has no tradition in Western Europe intermarry at a much lower rate than those whose religious backgrounds correspond with those that are common in the country of settlement. The rate of ethnic endogamous marriages in Western Europe are highest in Hindu and Muslim communities, often regardless if they came as guest workers or colonial migrants. Whereas differences in religion diminish the propensity to intermarry, colour or ‘racial’ differences on the other hand seem to be less important. This is largely explained by the pre-migration socialisation. Furthermore, the paper argues that the attention to institutions, as rightly advocated by Richard Alba and Victor Nee, needs a more refined and layered elaboration. Institutions, often as barriers to intermarriage, do not only emanate from the receiving society, but also—be it less formalized—within migrant communities. Especially religions and family systems, but also organized nationalist feelings, can have a profound influence on how migrants think about endogamy. Finally, strong pressures to assimilate, often through institutionalized forms of discrimination and stigmatization, not only produce isolation and frustrate assimilation (with resulting low intermarriage rates), but can also stimulate assimilation by 'passing' mechanisms. These factors, together with a more comparative perspective, are not completely ignored in the new assimilation theory, but—as this study of Western European intermarriage patterns stresses—deserve to be included more systematically in historical and social scientist analyses.     

The Role of Ethnicity in a Local Drug Dealer Network

This article analyses the role of ethnicity in a heroin dealer and consumer network of young men of Chilean descent in Norrköping, Sweden. At the end of the 1990s the young men became involved in the network through contact with a large‐scale dealer who was also of Chilean descent. They worked as street dealers for the top dealer; many of them also began using heroin and eventually developed an addiction. Through over 100 qualitative interviews with 17 of these young men, the article examines identity construction and the competencies they developed on the street that facilitated their eventual work as dealers, as well as the social relations and contacts within the dealer network that played a role in their becoming dealers and users. The findings reveal that due to their perceived experience of being subordinated in society, they became involved in heroin as a means of gaining self‐respect, dignity, and wealth. Arriving at a view of ethnicity as something that is constructed rather than fixed and intrinsic, the findings point to how ethnicity, through the young men's development of and participation in the street culture, merges with aspects of identity including social class and gender, as well as with aspects of ethnicities from other parts of the world. On the whole, the findings suggest that ethnicity as a concept of analysis within drug cultures is less fruitful when separated from other aspects of identity, such as social class and gender.     

The Racial Construction of Urban Spaces in Britain and Pakistan

This paper details the articulations of a sample of South Asian Muslims from Lancashire, UK, and Karachi, Pakistan, in relation to their construction of the urban space in which they reside. In particular, theories of how urban spaces are ‘racially constructed’ and the impact of this on our understanding of racial and politically motivated violence are examined. The findings are part of a broader study which provided a comparative evaluation of the experiences of crime amongst two Muslim communities in the UK and Pakistan (Quraishi, Muslims and crime: A comparative study. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005). The theoretical inspiration for this paper originates from the writings of Chicago School scholars such as Park, but more specifically from the works of Webster, Hesse et al. and Keith, who each explore the dynamic relationships between urban space, racial identity and victimization (Park, The nature of race relations. Chapter 7 in L. Back, J. Solomos (Eds.), Theories of race and Racism. London: Routledge, 1950; Webster, Youth crime, victimization and harassment. The Keighley crime survey. A paper in community studies no.7. centre Research. Department of Applied and community studies, Bradford and Ilkley Community College, 1994; Webster, Local heroes: Racial violence among asian and young people. Leicester: Leicester University, 1997; Hesse,et al Beneath the surface: Racial harassment. Avebury: Aldershot, 1992; Keith, Identity and the spaces of authenticity. Chapter 35 in L. Back, J. Solomos (Eds), Theories of race and racism. London: Routledge, 2004) The paper evaluates the construction of certain ‘no-go’ zones in the UK and Pakistan as perceived by Muslims. The comparative dimension enables an exploration of the divergence and convergence of processes accountable for a racially constructed interpretation of urban environments (Alexander, The asian gang: Ethnicity, Identity. Masculinity. Oxford: Berg, 2000; Desai, Spaces of identity, cultures of conflict: The development of new asian identities, Ph.D. dissertation, Goldsmiths’ college, University of London. In B. Bowling, C. Philips (2000) Racism, crime & theoutsiders. London: Longman/Pearson, 1998). Such processes are contextualized against the broader experiences of social exclusion, victimization and racism experienced by Muslim youth in everyday life (Quraishi, Muslims and crime: A comparative study. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005; Spalek, Islam, crime and criminal justice. London: Willan, 2002; Spalek, Muslims in the UK and the criminal justice system. Chapter 4 in open society institute (Eds.), Muslims in the UK: Policies for Engaged citizens.OSI/EU Monitoring & Advocacy Programme. Hungary, Budapest & New York, 2005).

Third molar development according to chronological age in populations from Spanish and Magrebian origin

Spain is frequently the entrance country into the European Union for undocumented immigrants, especially those from the Magreb (Northern Africa). Forensic age estimates for these persons are difficult because systematic studies of dental maturity are lacking. Three different populations were analyzed to determine the pattern of development of third molars as a tool for age estimation in people of different ethnic and geographic origin. Orthopantomograms from two different populations of Spanish origin (Galicia in northwestern continental Spain, and Ceuta, a Spanish province in Northern Africa) were compared to radiographs of molars from a Magrebian population (Northern Africa) resident in Ceuta. Orthopantomograms were obtained from a private dental clinic (n=344) in Galicia and from the Public Oral Health Services (n=228) in Ceuta. We looked for differences in third molar mineralization (determined with the Demirjian scale) that might serve as age indicators (older versus younger than 18 years). Differences in maturation patterns were found between sexes and populations of origin. Mineralization of tooth 38 was more advanced in males than females among subjects 18 years of age and older in all three populations. Moreover, mineralization of tooth 38 in subjects aged 18 years and older was significantly slower in the Spanish-Galicia population than in the Magrebian-Ceuta population. We found no significant differences between Magrebian and Spanish individuals from Ceuta. We conclude that differences in tooth 38 mineralization may be related more with socio-geographical than ethnic origin (ancestry), and thus constitute evidence of the relevance of socio-geographic rather than genetic factors in third molar development. We used ROC analysis to determine the accuracy of the examiner's ability to correctly estimate age as younger or older than 18 years. The results suggest that Demirjian stage for tooth 38 can be considered a good indicator of age in all three populations.     

Bias in the Family: Race,Ethnicity, and Culture in Custody Disputes

This essay examines the role of racial, ethnic, and cultural bias in custody cases. It analyzes cases where the court explicitly considered the parents’ racial, ethnic, or cultural background and cases where the court did not acknowledge these factors but where it is clear from the court's opinion that biases influenced its decision. It then briefly describes the literature on implicit bias to demonstrate how biases may influence the assessments of custody evaluators, lawyers, and judges despite best efforts to make fair and impartial decisions. Drawing on studies suggesting that individuals can reduce their implicit biases and their effects on decision making, the essay explores individual strategies and institutional reforms to address bias in custody disputes.     

Everyday forms of state decomposition: Quetzaltenango,Guatemala, 1954⋆

This essay explores how Guatemala's 1952 agrarian reform played out among Quetzalteco K'iche's. Much of the academic writing on the revolution is concerned with the way the agrarian reform affected indigenous communities. These studies either view the reform as creating bitter political conflicts within the community, thereby weakening or destroying local institutions of communal politics and identification, or else they understand the reform as deepening incipient class divisions. In all of these studies,‘conflict’is understood to be something antithetical to‘community’. Yet conflict is as essential to communal formation as are more visible identity markers, suggesting an intriguing correlation: the greater the degree of communal conflict, the greater the level of communal identification.     

Ethnicity and electoral manipulation in Russia

To what extent does electoral manipulation follow ethnic lines in Russia? Using an original dataset based on raion-level data, we find that the “ethnic component” of electoral manipulation is more nuanced than previous studies have suggested. Electoral manipulation was most prevalent in majority-minority raions across ethnic and non-ethnic as well as richer and poorer regions. We argue that concentrations of ethnic minorities provide: (1) greater incentives for electoral manipulation by the central state and regional elites in order to signal political dominance and (2) greater capacity to carry out electoral manipulation through networks of local co-ethnic elites. However, multilevel analyses suggest that the extent of electoral manipulation was also strongly contingent on regional context. Electoral manipulation was significantly higher in the more politically volatile Muslim regions, while socioeconomic differences among regions, by contrast, had no discernible effect.