Refugee entrepreneurship in context: Exploring dimensions of diversity across Europe, the Middle East, and Pakistan
Abstract
Forced migration continues to reshape societies globally, with refugee entrepreneurship emerging as a vital pathway for economic and social integration.This chapter explores how overlapping dimensions of diversity such as culture, language, religion and identity, as well as institutional contexts-shape refugee entrepreneurial experiences and theoretical understandings of this phenomenon.We also compare refugee entrepreneurship in European and non-European contexts, emphasizing the importance of local conditions, institutional frameworks, and sociocultural embeddedness.We argue that culture and other diversity dimensions should be centralnot peripheral-in refugee entrepreneurship research.Building on previous studies, we propose three future research streams: (1) Refugee entrepreneurship in multilingual contexts; (2) Multicultural identity dynamics; and (3) Religion and intersectionality.We conclude with practical implications for policymakers.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Migration
Ethnicity
and Economy
International Student and Expatriate Challenges
Migration and Labor Dynamics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Åbo Akademi University Research Portal
- Publication date
- 21 April 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter