Ethnic Neighborhoods as Places
of Leisure and Consumption
Presentation prepared for ISA-RC 21 Tokyo Conference at the
International House
December 17-20, 2008
Ching Lin Pang
IMMRC (Interculturalism, Migration & Minorities Research
Centre) Social Sciences, KU Leuven
Jan Rath
IMES, University of Amsterdam
Ethnic enclaves
• Proliferation of ethnic ‘enclaves’, i.e. concentrations of
ethnic minorities c.q. ethnic businesses
• Initially in traditional immigration countries, now also in
Europe.
• For instance Klein Turkei, Cova de Moura, Banglatown,
Chinatown(s)
• Residential concentrations, also business concentrations
What accounts for rise of
commercial enclaves?
• This phenomenon was traditionally
explained by:
– Cultural dynamics
– Social networks
– Exclusionist practices
Mixed embeddedness approach
• However, (ethnic) entrepreneurs are in the
first place business people: they position
themselves in a market and seize
commercial opportunities. In doing so, they
are subject to various forms of regulation
• Mixed embeddedness approach
Mixed embeddedness approach
• This means that:
– The rise of ethnic commercial enclaves can
only be understood by addressing the nexus of
the entrepreneurs’ characteristics and the
wider political and economic context
– Ethnic commercial enclaves that are seemingly
similar may actually be very different, resulting
in different outcomes
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
2 Case Studies:
Chinatown Antwerp
Chinatown Brussels
specific but yet comparable to Chinatowns in other NorthWestern countries, i.e. UK, the Netherlands and possibly
Germany
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Common grounds of Chinese in UK, Benelux and Germany
-Similar Chinese migration flows:
‘oldcomers’: onset 20th century until 1990
‘newcomers’: from the 1990s onwards
-Relatively small size vis-a-vis other immigrants
-’Silent’ in discourse multicultural policy
-dispersed settlement patters (among oldcomers)
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Emergence & development of Chinatown in
European context => restrictive immigration
policy
Thus, it differs from Chinatowns in
traditional immigration countries (US,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Chinatown:
concentration of Chinese and other Asian
shops, restaurants and services
22 commercial shops:
14 Chinese shops
15 restaurants (12 Chinese, 2 Thai,
1 Japanese)
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Chinatown Antwerp: thriving community life
-6 Chinese associations
-1 protestant church
-1 Buddhist temple
-1 Chinese language school
-2 martial arts school
-1 Nepalese association
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Activities to do in Chinatown:
Eating
Funshopping
Thematic walks
Festivals: Chinese New Year, Mid Autumn,
Birthday of the Buddha
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Factors explaining emergence Chinatown
Antwerp
bottom-up development:
need for meeting point : eating, playing,
learning and caring
Chinese businesspeople fulfill needs
1&2
Chinese associations fufill needs 3&4
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Interaction city government and the inhabitants of
the multi-ethnic neighborhoods:
Introduction regeneration scheme
Objectives:
combat racism and xenophobia
combat poverty
fostering social cohesion locals-immigrants
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Outcome of the regeneration scheme for
the Chinese:
sinification of the streetscape
promotion and support for cultural
experience-performative activities:
Chinatown walks, celebration of
festivals, both secular as religious
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Chinatown Brussels
Clustering of Chinese-Asian Businesses in
downtown Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
First Asian business people:
Vietnamese-Chinese refugees, who started small
business in the area
Now a wide range of Chinese and Asian
entrepreneurs:
settled immigrants
newly arrived PRC Chinese: students, intellectuals,
medical doctors, international Chinese spouses, etc.
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Chinatown Brussels not a physically
marked neighborhood
absence of Chinese community life
integrated in downtown Brussels,
Dansaertneighborhood:
a former no go area
now a trendy, upbeat, ‘branche’ area
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Success of Chinese/Asian business
people and Chinatown in Brussels
contingent on the interaction with the
gentrified neighborhood and its further
development
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
What brings the future?
Opportunities:
-Chinatown= strong brandname
-continuous innovation in ethnic economy
-integration into the larger economic-socialcultural environment of the city
-breaking out of the ethnic niche for some
individual Chinese entrepreneurs
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Threats from within:
-intra-ethnic problems: reliance of ethnic business on
clandestine workers, co-ethnic or other-ethnic
-inter-ethnic competition: resistance of other
immigrant entrepreneurs to monocultural
representation of the public space
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Threats from the outside:
Assimilationist turn in migration and migrant policies
in most European countries:
-intolerance towards non-European language
signage and foreign speech in public space
-European cultural heritage versus diversified
cultural heritage of the city
Anti-Chinese sentiments among Europeans as
reaction to ascendency of China as global power
Commodification of Cultural Diversity.
Case study Chinatown, Antwerp and Brussels
Conclusion:
Commodification of cultural diversity
=not a ‘natural’ process
not only agency of entreprising immigrants
(social,cultural,human capital)
= outcome of the interface of social, cultural,
economic and political developments and
conditions (mixed embeddedness approach) and
with local specificities.