ABSTRACT
Research on migrant or ethnic entrepreneurs draws explicitly on human and cultural capital to explain ethnic entrepreneurs’ efficacy and agency. This chapter assesses the usefulness of symbolic and embodied capital as a measure of the value of ethnoculture and migration to then analyse the economic dimensions of Productive Diversity. and the assumptions around cultural capital as a latent form of agency for minority economic emancipation for ethnic business owners. Terms such as cultural capital have mutated from a singular and robust definition as quasi-economic terms. Persistent, wide and interchangeable usage of these concepts to refer to the success or otherwise of migrant entrepreneurs compels some clarification. Bourdieu’s idea of privilege is highlighted as vital to understanding if and when cultural capital might be used in relation to migration analyses. The chapter highlights how highly specific and crucial are the processes of labour and surplus value to determining capital.
