{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/79880"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/79880","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Community Building Through Economic Opportunity: Entrepreneurship Among Female Refugees in Buffalo, New York","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Root, Laurel"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Stevens Jr., Phillips","Anthropology"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-07-30T15:10:43Z","date_published":"2019-07-30T15:10:43Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:19Z","subjects":["cultural anthropology","entrepreneurship","social research"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79880","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Stevens Jr., Phillips","Anthropology"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Root, Laurel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2019-07-30T15:10:43Z","2019","2019-04-28 15:59:25"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["cultural anthropology","entrepreneurship","social research"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79880"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","Buffalo, New York is a national hub for refugee resettlement. Each year as a mid-sized city it welcomes some of the highest numbers of refugees in the country. The West Side is home to the city’s largest concentration of refugees. The West Side is also home to the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI). Opportunities for entrepreneurship are offered to refugees by WEDI through a small business incubation space (the West Side Bazaar), business coaching, and low-interest microloans. Other organizations for encouraging entrepreneurial activity are present on the West Side, including Stitch Buffalo and Sew REDI (Refugee Economic Development Initiative). These organizations aid refugee women by teaching them a skill, in this case sewing. The women directly earn profit from the sale of their work. This in turn teaches economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. This dissertation examines the experiences of women refugee entrepreneurs from a variety of countries. These women had either been the recipients of training or microloans from WEDI or members of Stitch Buffalo or Sew REDI. Culture takes on a fluid manifestation for these women. Due to the event of relocation, many times leading to multiple relocations, individuals are exposed to a variety of cultural frameworks in which they must operate. Women often spend many years in refugee camps in multiple countries outside of their home countries. This creates a necessity for adaptation and renegotiation of culture and identity in order to survive. Because of the complicated intersection of cultural influences it makes it difficult, and nearly impossible, to define how individual cultures change. Instead, the women that have participated in the research display common themes related to the experience of what it means to be a woman refugee entrepreneur. These women come from all over the world, including the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. While there is ample literature on the areas of entrepreneurship and refugee studies separately, very little scholarship has explored the connection of these two topics, particularly within the context of the United States. This dissertation design is a multi-sited approach conducted at the West Side Bazaar and the sewing collectives. Data was collected through a research design with rigorous qualitative methods through participant observation, informal interviews, and formal interviews."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Community Building Through Economic Opportunity: Entrepreneurship Among Female Refugees in Buffalo, New York"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Stevens Jr., Phillips","Anthropology"],"dc:creator":["Root, Laurel"],"dc:date":["2019-07-30T15:10:43Z","2019","2019-04-28 15:59:25"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","Buffalo, New York is a national hub for refugee resettlement. Each year as a mid-sized city it welcomes some of the highest numbers of refugees in the country. The West Side is home to the city’s largest concentration of refugees. The West Side is also home to the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI). Opportunities for entrepreneurship are offered to refugees by WEDI through a small business incubation space (the West Side Bazaar), business coaching, and low-interest microloans. Other organizations for encouraging entrepreneurial activity are present on the West Side, including Stitch Buffalo and Sew REDI (Refugee Economic Development Initiative). These organizations aid refugee women by teaching them a skill, in this case sewing. The women directly earn profit from the sale of their work. This in turn teaches economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. This dissertation examines the experiences of women refugee entrepreneurs from a variety of countries. These women had either been the recipients of training or microloans from WEDI or members of Stitch Buffalo or Sew REDI. Culture takes on a fluid manifestation for these women. Due to the event of relocation, many times leading to multiple relocations, individuals are exposed to a variety of cultural frameworks in which they must operate. Women often spend many years in refugee camps in multiple countries outside of their home countries. This creates a necessity for adaptation and renegotiation of culture and identity in order to survive. Because of the complicated intersection of cultural influences it makes it difficult, and nearly impossible, to define how individual cultures change. Instead, the women that have participated in the research display common themes related to the experience of what it means to be a woman refugee entrepreneur. These women come from all over the world, including the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. While there is ample literature on the areas of entrepreneurship and refugee studies separately, very little scholarship has explored the connection of these two topics, particularly within the context of the United States. This dissertation design is a multi-sited approach conducted at the West Side Bazaar and the sewing collectives. Data was collected through a research design with rigorous qualitative methods through participant observation, informal interviews, and formal interviews."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79880"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["cultural anthropology","entrepreneurship","social research"],"dc:title":["Community Building Through Economic Opportunity: Entrepreneurship Among Female Refugees in Buffalo, New York"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:19Z"}