Experiences of people with refugee background who started their business in the food sector
The emotional and relational aspects of hospitality for inclusion have been rarely explicitly acknowledged in the food business sector and academic scholarship. Embedded within these aspects is the concept of voice and how it can be used to empower and care for others. Voice is viewed as a fundamental human right and is crucial for communities, such as those with refugee background to express their experiences and gain agency for change. How stories are told using food and within hospitality businesses, illuminates care, as well as communicating the causes of displacement and refugee experiences during their journeys, arrival, collective perceptions and the reception and inclusion of refugees in the countries in which they resettle. A key approach for gaining inclusion and economic resources for refugee background communities has been to start a business. This provides opportunities for employment and, the hospitality and food sector, has been viewed as an accessible sector for refugee-background individuals to start their venture in and offer a transformative avenue for inclusion in their new communities. Through their hospitality and food businesses, refugees can offer positive narratives, challenge perceptions that others in the host community may have of them and construct realistic caring representations of themselves. The hospitality sector emerges as a unique platform for refugees to connect with host communities, fostering mutual understanding and promoting inclusion. Previous academic studies that have investigated hospitality businesses started by people with refugee background have mainly focused on examining the various economic and functional aspects that influence their businesses. In these studies, a humanitarian approach that examined the sociological and cultural role of food and food businesses for diverse communities such as refugee background individuals was rarely acknowledged. To deepen our understanding of the role of food and hospitality for people with refugee background who started hospitality businesses, this thesis highlights the critical sociocultural and symbolic aspects of food. To focus on participants’ perspectives of food, their meanings of their food business experiences and values, an interpretative approach was deemed appropriate for the thesis. Critical hospitality theory was included in the analysis to examine how food provides a conduit to create meaningful relationships with ‘Others’ that goes beyond economics or biological needs. Memory-work methodology was seen as an appropriate method and offered opportunities for participants to consider the narrative that they wanted to share in a meaningful manner in the research. Located within the interpretive paradigm, memory-work is grounded in understanding the world as being interpreted by individuals in their lived practices of everyday life. 12 participants volunteered to write a memory and reflect on their experience with me in individual discussion meetings. Institutional ethics for the research was approved by the Waikato Management School Research Ethics Committee. Thematic analysis of the data indicated three significant themes that represented the participants’ experiences: ‘People with refugee background as caregivers’; ‘Strangers encounter, strangers become familiar’; and ‘Fostering emotional solidarity with people with refugee background’. People with refugee background are usually portrayed as perpetually vulnerable and reliant individuals who need or want support and care from national and international organisations to assist them in navigating their way into the new society. However, rather than conforming to this stereotypical portrayal of refugees as passive care receivers, people with refugee background who participated in this research were actively engaged in providing care for others. The findings of this research also illustrated that hospitality in this type of commercial setting was a catalyst for dialogue and exchange of ideas, experiences, and knowledge between different ‘others’ that allowed strangers to be welcomed as familiars. In the context of hospitality, refugee-background participants stated that their customers developed some emotional solidarity with the experiences of people from refugee-background communities. This thesis contributes to a richer understanding of how the commercial context of hospitality can create opportunities for crossing thresholds, activism for change, and inclusion. Notably, this thesis uncovers how food and hospitality businesses could sustain well-being, care for the ‘other’ and act as a channel to advocate for change around refugee-background issues.
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