Anabela Dinis
A minority group is a smaller group which is both subordinate to and dependent upon larger society. Even if this is not always true, the notion of minority is frequently associated with social exclusion. Social exclusion can be broadly understood as exclusion or marginalization of one group by another group in society because of different group identity. Women and ethnic minorities are groups that traditionally fall under this classification. In spite of the fact that these two broad groups present specific characteristics and problems, they frequently have in common problems related with “non-participation in or denial access to key activities of a society”, where political engagement, cultural interaction and economic participation are the most obvious dimensions. If inclusion and exclusion is a matter of degree, the degree of exclusion in many circumstances, is clearly higher if both characteristics are mixed, i.e when an individual is a women in an ethnic group.
In spite of their reduced weight compared with dominant groups, (ethnic) minorities are an important part of world’s population. Some estimate that 10 to 20% of the world’s population belongs to minorities and that 40% of the world’s independent states have more than five sizable ethnic populations, one or more of which most likely faces serious political, cultural, and economic discrimination.
Political exclusion is based in rights-based perspective, and exists, for instance, when there is a lack of equal voting or political participation rights as compared to majority of the population. On the contrary, full and effective political engagement would mean the involvement in local or national decision making bodies; cultural exclusion might be present if minority groups are excluded from society because they speak another language as compared to the one spoken by the ethnic group that controls the state. Integration with family, friends, neighbours and the broader community is blocked if language barriers persist. Cultural exclusion most likely becomes a matter of education and adequate educational opportunities for all groups of society; and finally, but not the least, economic exclusion can be broadly understood as non-participation in or blocked access to the labor market, public services, finance, housing, educational and health sector, higher education, land, finance, credit, etc.
These three dimensions are interrelated and influence each other. However, the economic dimension of exclusion should be the one that should receive greater and first attention, especially when applied to historic ethnic minorities, for several reasons:
We can argue that the root of social exclusion is economic exclusion. In fact, the very meaning of social exclusion was always an economic one (and even more nowadays) based on rising levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality among different groups in society facing modernization processes. From such a perspective, political or cultural participation are seen only as secondary dimensions of social exclusion when compared to very basic needs such as to generate an income for food, health and housing or to get basic education for one’s children.
Another important argument lies in the economic development perspective. If excluded from economic life, minorities will remain an untapped resource in terms of economic prosperity not only for members of the minority but for entire communities, regions or countries. Also, if minorities remain under-educated, underpaid and under-employed the economy of entire country or region will be affected.
From a legal/political perspective, discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender or any other identity characteristic is prohibited both by numerous national jurisdictions and by supra-national instruments, but its presence is nevertheless widespread. The economic disadvantages suffered by members minorities in Europe are perhaps more often result of indirect than direct discrimination. Economic prosperity and the reduction of economic inequalities lead to greater participation of minorities in public life and, in turn to a further consolidation of democracy. Minority communities mired in poverty; on the other hand, are unlikely to accumulate the level of social capital necessary to make their voices heard in the political sphere.
There is also a security argument: economic underdevelopment and, especially, the economic marginalization of a particular identity group can increase the likelihood of interethnic mistrust, fear and competition for scarce resources and thus conflict between groups.
The above arguments make clear that the economic inclusion of minorities should be seen as a potential for economic growth, what can also be inferred from the Lisbon Strategy which committed EU member states to adopt the promotion of social cohesion and social inclusion as a strategic goal for sustainable economic growth.
The arguments presented also make clear that economic inclusion will allow or facilitate cultural and political inclusion of minorities, as more growth means in theory lower unemployment rates and higher incomes which, in turn, allows, for instance, access to better education and more political engagement. These, altogether, mean more social cohesion.
Since economic exclusion is a central issue, it is important to go deeper on the clarification of its components. Based on the logic of market system, some authors propose its analysis considering the consumption and production side.
The consumption side highlights the (lack of) capacity of an individual a) to purchase goods and services, as well as b) to generate income and savings; the production side would be the non-participation or blocked access in economic activities through labour market.
In general, minority groups can purchase goods and services in the majority controlled market, thus, they participate in the total economic system as consumers. However, the figure is distinct when considering the controllers of income and of the means of production: in general there is a clear inequity between minority and dominant groups. Thus, efforts to alleviate economic exclusion should focus on these aspects.
The promotion of entrepreneurship among minorities groups would allow the promotion of economic inclusion considering its income and production components. In fact, entrepreneurship is a means for individuals of all backgrounds to runaway from poverty, to create jobs for other citizens, and to ensure that innovation and creativity continue to revitalize the regions and the country. Thus, ensuring that all have access to entrepreneurship and to the tools they need to be successful entrepreneurs will result in higher employment, less poverty, more innovation, and higher living standards for everyone.
Moreover, ethnic diversity can potentially generate competitiveness through a variety of independent mechanisms, including business start up by ethnic minority groups; workforce, supplier and linguistic diversity; creativity and innovation arising from combining different ethnic influences; and the utilization of Diaspora-based networks to access global markets.
However, while self-employment is appointed as a means for minorities and women to enter the mainstream of the economy, barriers to entrepreneurship for these groups remain. Creation of viable small businesses, demands skilled and capable entrepreneurs who have access to financial capital to invest in their business ventures and access to markets for the product of their enterprises. Among minority businesses, discriminatory barriers have often interfered with efforts to obtain access to these conditions for business viability. These barriers often result in overly small, less profitable and generally less viable firms. Furthermore, barriers also discourage some potential minority entrepreneurs from entering a situation of self-employment.
The first step towards eliminating these barriers is to understand them. An essential point to understand is that the nature of the minority business community is derived of broad social, economic and political forces. To that end, it is important to engage in a vigorous debate involving social, economical and political institutions, regarding policies that will foster a more entrepreneurial environment for minorities and women. It is also important to bring people together through networking and socialization processes which will stimulate proximity, the flow of ideas and action.
A lessening of discrimination and the empowerment and larger inclusion of these minorities probably will generate a powerful growth dynamic that gradually will transform the minority business community in a dynamic a contributor for total economic growth and will contribute to peaceful coexistence, cooperation and democratic development in multi-ethnic societies.
Anabela Dinis, NECE -Research Unit in Business Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Portugal