Multifocality and opportunity structure: towards a mixed embeddedness model for transnational migrant entrepreneurship

This article addresses transnational migrant entrepreneurship, which refers to migrants involved in cross-border entrepreneurial activities. Previous models and concepts in migrant entrepreneurship studies have not fully succeeded in recognising the role played by differential groups and places in the pursuit of opportunities by transnational migrant entrepreneurs. This is due to a tendency to focus on the country of residence as well as on the inclination to view migrant entrepreneurs as members of a coherent ethnic or national group. To help fill this gap, we propose a new model combining the concept of multifocality, covering the simultaneous involvement of migrant entrepreneurs in both multiple places and multiple groups, with group modes of behaviour as an additional dimension influencing the opportunity structure. The case of Moroccan transnational entrepreneurs in Amsterdam shows that the role of multifocality in place, in combination with group modes of behaviour, is critical when it comes to pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities.

Organisational Capability for Delayed Retirement

Throughout the industrialised world, societies are ageing. These demographic changes have created a political and societal focus on an extended working life. Unfortunately, there is a lack of systematic knowledge about how such changes can be successfully implemented within organisations. In this chapter, we discuss this lacuna and specifically focus on organisational capability. We highlight workplace conditions and practices that may inhibit or promote the retention of workers beyond the previous norm for retirement.The novelty of an organisational capability approach is that it highlights workplace conditions that enable older people to use their abilities to perform acts of value and to achieve a better quality of life and greater participation in society. Workplace resources, capabilities and functions form a dynamic pattern. Factors that influence the work abilities of older workers are related in complex interactions and not merely in the format of simple cause and effect.When looking at retirement from the perspective of older workers, we have focused on aspects such as the individual’s ability to control the retirement process. Central to Sen’s idea is that individuals have different conversion factors, which means that, even though two individuals may have access to the same resources, they do not necessarily have the capability to enjoy the same functions. For example, the probability that an older person will remain employed will partially depend on his or her health, human capital and type of job. But two seemingly similar individuals can nevertheless have very different chances of remaining employed because their employer has implemented very different age management policies, or simply because they have different attitudes towards older workers. Since organisational capability makes it possible to focus on the interaction between the individual’s resources and preferences and the opportunity structure existing at the workplace (meso level) and embodied in the retirement system (macro level), much of the discussion and many of the policies and practices concerning older people can be related to the concept of capabilities.

A Pragma-Dialectical Approach to Memory Politics: Spanish Contemporary Memory Politics, Populism Studies, and Argumentative Dialectics

This paper establishes a dialogue between populism studies, typologies of reconstruction of the past, and argumentative dialectics. The paper analyzes what types of argumentative strategies are employed in the context of the discussions regarding Spanish memory politics and how those strategies can be associated with typologies of re-elaboration of the past (Caramani and Manucci 2019). Building from argumentative dialectics (Van Eemeren and Grootendorst 2004), the paper studies argumentation structures uttered after the endorsement of the 2007 Spanish Historical Memory Law and the proposal of the 2021 Draft Democratic Memory Law. Departing from the distinction between diverse strategies of re-elaboration of the past, namely, heroization and cancellation (Caramani and Manucci 2019), the paper questions if Spanish decision-makers’ rhetorical strategies and political decisions in the field of memory politics disclose the adoption of particular types of populist behavior. The paper claims that the argumentative tactics used, in the domain of memory politics, by Spanish left-wing leaders reveal the adoption of a heroization strategy. In contrast, the rhetoric of Spanish right-wing leaders favors a strategy of cancellation. The paper also claims that, in the Spanish case, mainly from 2018 onwards, the adoption by Spanish left-wing leaders of a heroization strategy had two consequences. First, it did not reduce the cultural opportunity structure for right-wing populism. Second, it fostered a cultural opportunity structure for the affirmation of left-wing populism. The paper selected argumentative dialectics as a methodological framework (Van Eemeren and Grootendorst 2004). The paper discusses the scientific significance of analyzing memory politics through the lenses of populism studies.

Environmental Movements in North-East India: Political Opportunity Structure and Movement Success

Since the last two decades, the North-East region of India witnessed many environmental movements with similar goals and forms of mobilisation that challenged government policies and actions. Many of them achieved their goals or objectives whereas others failed. This study is an attempt to understand the factors that determined the success and failure of those movements and protests by employing rich details of four case studies from the North-East to make a systematic comparison. This study uses political opportunity structure as a theoretical construct to understand relative success and failure of environmental movements in the North-East.

Collective redress in labour and social law disputes: An (attractive) option for the EU?

Collective redress has a lot of appeal as an enforcement tool, but historically it has been seen as somewhat unfitting for the European legal landscape. Despite this, many EU national legal systems have introduced collective redress mechanisms. The area of EU labour and social law, however, has been slow to catch up with this trend. This article discusses whether collective redress in labour and social law disputes could be an attractive option for the EU. Relying on an analysis of the legal opportunity structure it proposes some ideas on how to advance. All in all, collective redress is no panacea but could potentially complement and improve the EU enforcement toolbox, particularly in areas where there is evidence of persistent enforcement gaps.

Within-Individual Effects of Dropping out of School on Violent Victimization Among Serious Adolescent Offenders

Despite a recent decrease in both school dropout and victimization rates, many harsh and exclusionary school policies continue to push school-aged adolescents out of school. This study combines two research areas—school dropout and violent victimization—by investigating if dropping out of school increases the chance of violent victimization. It is hypothesized that a change in the opportunity structure associated with risky lifestyles and routine activities accounts for the link between school dropout and violent victimization. Drawing on longitudinal panel data collected from a relatively homogenous sample of 1354 serious adolescent offenders who are predominantly minorities (75%) and males (86%) and fixed-effects models which enhance the causal validity of the findings by using the same individuals as their own counterfactuals over time, this study shows that dropping out of school leads to the perpetuation of violent victimization, primarily due to a change in the opportunity structure associated with risky lifestyles and routine activities. By uncovering the pathway between school dropout and victimization, this study contributes to the knowledge base on the impact of school dropouts, the source of violent victimization, and the causal mechanism underlying the link between dropping out of school and violent victimization—all of which are relatively understudied despite their significant implications for theory and policy.

The “refugee crisis” as an opportunity structure for right-wing populist social movements: The case of PEGIDA

Current research on right-wing populist communication is often confined to political parties, with social movements receiving much less attention. To help fill this research gap, we examine the frames and master frames of the PEGIDA movement and the role of the 2015 “refugee crisis” in shaping them. Using qualitative content analysis of speeches held at PEGIDA rallies between 2014 and 2016, we identify two distinct master frames, each consisting of five particular frames. Besides an initial master frame about the allegedly looming Islam- ization of Europe, a second master frame dealing with the Perils of Asylum emerge during the “crisis” – ultimately, both converge, with the latter incorporating central elements of the former. These findings buttress our interpretation of the “crisis” as an opportunity structure that helped right-wing populist social movements to revitalize their message and broaden their audience. However, its long-term impact still appears limited as PEGIDA’s influence has greatly waned in recent years.

The Politics of Eco-violence: Why Is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt?

Competition for natural resources has intensified in recent years between nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary farmers in Nigeria's Middle Belt. What were initially sporadic conflicts over cropland and water have transformed into daily occurrences of mass violence. While extant research focuses on the root causes of such conflicts, the reasons for their escalation remain insufficiently understood. Based on fieldwork conducted during 2018-2019, this article examines how political developments have contributed to the escalation of conflict in the region. Using Homer-Dixon's theory of civil strife as a conceptual framework, the findings show that changes in the 'political opportunity structure' in Nigeria since 2014 were a catalyst for escalating the conflicts. These changes resulted from the 2014 insecurity in Nigeria caused by terrorist acts committed by non-state actors and the outcomes of the 2015 election. The consequences were the unvarnished adoption of nepotistic domestic policies and alliances between elites and militia members.

The opportunity structure, group characteristics, and strategy of ketok magic repair shops in Manado

The increase in internal migration has led to the emergence of ethnic minority migrant groups who work as entrepreneurs in various migration destinations in Indonesia. The migration that occurred in Manado shows that ethnic groups from certain regions form a unique group in the social network of repair shop owners and workers. This study aimed to describe the emergence and development of a ketok magic repair shop business in Manado which is owned by migrants from Blitar City, East Java. This study used a qualitative research method. Primary data were obtained from interviews and observations, while secondary data were obtained from literature studies. The results show that the opportunity structure in the form of requests for car repair and painting services as well as the ease of setting up a repair shop business has enabled the establishment of a number of ketok magic repair shops in Manado. Ethnic characteristics in the form of communities with high solidarity and strong social networks support repair shop activities well. This study concludes that community and social networks facilitate recruitment of workers and carry out repair shop promotion strategies because of high solidarity.