The interplay between identity construction and opportunity structures: Narratives of Turkish migrant women entrepreneurs in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between the identity construction processes of migrant women entrepreneurs and the opportunity structures in their wider sociocultural and politico-institutional environments. Drawing on 10 life-story interviews with one-and-a-half- and second-generation Turkish women entrepreneurs in the Netherlands, this study draws upon an intersectional approach. Considering the recent socio-political tensions in the Netherlands regarding the presence of Turkish people, studying the relationship between opportunity structures and identity construction of Turkish women entrepreneurs is important and timely. The findings demonstrate the manner in which opportunity structures influence the creation and enactment of an entrepreneurial identity that intersects with gender, ethnicity and class. Analysing how these migrant women interpret and frame opportunity structures in their entrepreneurial contexts, this article reveals how processes of politicisation, class-consciousness and transnational and cosmopolitan positioning influence these women’s entrepreneurial identities and experiences.