Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Trust formation and experiences of prejudice and discrimination of Roma entrepreneurs in Finland

Trust formation and experiences of prejudice and discrimination of Roma entrepreneurs in Finland Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and to gain an understanding of the prejudices and discrimination faced by Finnish Roma entrepreneurs in their business activities. Design/methodology/approach – The starting point to this phenomenographical research is social marginality since the people of the Roma continue to exist at the margins of Finnish society. As a result of the study, how Roma entrepreneurs observe and understand discrimination against them in the business world is described and the manner in which their perceptions are formed is explored. Findings – The entrepreneurs interviewed had experienced prejudice and discrimination in interactions with revenue offices, TE‐Centres (Employment and Economic Development Centre), city councils, banks, insurance companies, suppliers, retailers, customers and with competitors. Practical implications – Creating trusting relationships with special interest groups was seen as the best method by which to reduce the prejudices. The perception of the Roma entrepreneurs was that the solution to discrimination is through the elimination of prejudice which would be most successfully achieved through cooperation between the Roma and the main population. Originality/value – This paper gives an understanding of the Roma people as entrepreneurs in a prejudiced society. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Enterprising Communities People and Places in the Global Economy Emerald Publishing

Trust formation and experiences of prejudice and discrimination of Roma entrepreneurs in Finland

Download PDF
16 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/trust-formation-and-experiences-of-prejudice-and-discrimination-of-SQjjAZoGCj

References (77)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1750-6204
DOI
10.1108/17506200810879952
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and to gain an understanding of the prejudices and discrimination faced by Finnish Roma entrepreneurs in their business activities. Design/methodology/approach – The starting point to this phenomenographical research is social marginality since the people of the Roma continue to exist at the margins of Finnish society. As a result of the study, how Roma entrepreneurs observe and understand discrimination against them in the business world is described and the manner in which their perceptions are formed is explored. Findings – The entrepreneurs interviewed had experienced prejudice and discrimination in interactions with revenue offices, TE‐Centres (Employment and Economic Development Centre), city councils, banks, insurance companies, suppliers, retailers, customers and with competitors. Practical implications – Creating trusting relationships with special interest groups was seen as the best method by which to reduce the prejudices. The perception of the Roma entrepreneurs was that the solution to discrimination is through the elimination of prejudice which would be most successfully achieved through cooperation between the Roma and the main population. Originality/value – This paper gives an understanding of the Roma people as entrepreneurs in a prejudiced society.

Journal

Journal of Enterprising Communities People and Places in the Global Economy – Emerald Publishing

Published: May 30, 2008

Keywords: Prejudice; Discrimination; Entrepreneurs; Trust; Finland; Ethnic minorities

There are no references for this article.