Migrant Networks across Borders: The Case of Brazilian Entrepreneurs in Japan

Abstract

Classical studies on migration as those of the Chicago school emphasized the social disorganization of migrants. However, migration researchers have regarded social networks as the key to understanding migration processes. Social capital generated by migrant networks is now considered as essential for the social mobility of migrants. Indeed, the contrasting views of migrant networks are too simple to clarify the dynamic processes of network formation. Few studies have tested how migrant networks are changing in host societies, which ties are transplanted from the home country, and which of them are utilized. This paper aims to clarify the missing link between pre-migration and post-migration social networks, examining the multiplicity of migrants’ social networks. This study tested three hypotheses of social capital on Brazilian entrepreneurs in Japan. By analyzing the social capital these migrant entrepreneurs mobilized to start businesses, this study found that while most depended on social capital in the initial phase of their businesses, they relied less on social relationships transplanted to Japan than on other sources. In addition, Brazilian entrepreneurs selectively used different sources of social capital. These results show that migrants selectively maintain and reconstruct social networks in the process of migration.

Keywords

• migrant network
• ethnic business
• Japanese Brazilians