Ethnic Business: Mainstream and Outsider Traditions of Tamil Entrepreneurship

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Ethnic Business: Mainstream and Outsider Traditions of Tamil Entrepreneurship Proceedings of Jaffna University International Research Conference (JUICE 2014) Track: Enterpreneurship Ethnic Business: Mainstream and Outsider Traditions of Tamil Entrepreneurship A.S. Ananda Department of Social Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University, Sri Lanka [email protected] ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION This paper challenges traditional as well as The common experience of writings on ethnic homogenous scales of appraising ethnic entrepreneurship entrepreneurship is that being inserting certain ethnic that exists in concurrent ethnic entrepreneurship or racial group into a common category that has been literature, with paying attention to diverge and dynamic undertaken into different themes such as, ‘Chinese characteristics of Tamil entrepreneurship. It emphasizes business’, ‘Jews’ networking pattern’, ‘social capital that the Tamil business may classify into several factions accumulation of East Indians’, ‘Korean family business’, as far as mobilizing different peculiarities of each sub ‘Japanese’ tradition of entrepreneurship’ etc. Most of these profile without narrowing down one group as “Tamil writers have emphasized primordial social ties, norms and entrepreneurship”. Therefore the study has cast a new values those which are prevailed in certain cultures [1, gaze upon comparing entrepreneurialism of ‘outsider’ 2, 3, 4,]. Sometimes, there are some explanations about entrepreneurs and mainstream business groups. For emerging of ethnic entrepreneurship in given situations instance, the Chettiars and the Muslim Tamils, who are like Chinese in Malaysia, Israelis in German, Chinese and mainly Tamilnadu, Jaffna and Colombo based Tamils, Japanese in Canada and many others referring to themes represent the mainstream of the worldwide ethnic of marginal, minority or immigrant entrepreneurship commercial network of Tamils. Their particular identity is [5, 6, 7]. On the one hand, almost all these explanations likely to be on account of both primordial and situational seem to be deducting one ethnic enclave into a single aspects of ethnic entrepreneurship. On the other hand, and homogenous category which is articulated by the entrepreneurial mobility of the bottom level of the peculiar cultural identity. On the other hand, the basics Up-country Tamils shows particular characteristics of the of these interpretations seem to be built in evaluating ‘outsiders’ of business. The initiation of the Upcountry entrepreneurship of ‘underlined entrepreneurial groups’. Tamil business from micro level is greatly dependent Limitations of these approaches make impediments of on the unlimited dedication of an entrepreneur. The scratching out the real figure of ethnic entrepreneurship. research has entirely based on literature on Tamil business communities worldwide undertaken into historical The entrepreneurial identity of the ethnic Tamils analysis scheme. Therefore, this paper will be important cannot be reduced into a single category of “Tamil in terms of widening theoretical approaches of ethnic entrepreneurship”. The diversity of Tamil entrepreneurial entrepreneurship by emphasizing the need of multiple traditions reflects different socio-cultural and geographical approaches to comprehend each sub section of an ethnic characteristics of each sub-group dispersed in different group. geographical locations. For instance, the embedded Tamil business enclaves of the Nattukottai Chettiars, Key Words- Ethnic Entrepreneurship, Tamil Business, the Muslim-Tamils initiated in South India, and the Sri Mainstream and outsider traditions Lankan Tamils from Jaffna or Colombo vary in terms of geographical, political and cultural background. However, the apparent common feature of these sub- divisions represents great entrepreneurial traditions or the mainstream business tradition. They are legitimate University of Jaffna - 177 - Proceedings of Jaffna University International Research Conference (JUICE 2014) Track: Enterpreneurship entrepreneurs with inherited cultures of mercantile Brahmin or Sacerdote Theory and the Vaisya or Traders activity, with a somewhat pre-established socio-economic Theory. While appreciating the innovative approaches structure. Historiographical interpretations and cultural of historians, I would like to use the same framework to sources will be used to make broad observations on the illustrate the historical expansion of global Tamil trade. traditional entrepreneurial heritage of ethnic Tamilians. In addition, I will suggest the need for one more aspect In particular, the global dissemination of Tamils, their which is Shudra or Proletariat Theory to help explain the business traditions, different cultural patterns and original South Indian labour. In the 19th century, the establishment positions in terms of sacerdotal, aristocratic, trade, and of British colonial plantations led to large migrations of slavery or proletariat status will be discussed to explain the South Indian plantation labour to colonial plantations internal disparity among Tamil entrepreneurial groups. In in Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, the Caribbean and Sri Lanka. addition, this paper may aid in positioning the Up-country Tamil entrepreneurs within the broader sense of Tamil There is ample historical evidence to consolidate ethnic entrepreneurship discourse. Vaisya or Traders approach as a reliable source of widening the Dravidian Diaspora [11, 12, 13, 14,]. Considering the ethnic perspective of entrepreneurship, Tamils had maintained trade and kinship relations with both primordial such as caste, kinship and instrumental Polynesia and other oceanic communities even in the characteristics in terms of reaction to current socio- prehistoric period. Archaeologists have discovered items economic situations can be seen in the legacy of Tamil such as canoes and coconuts which were exchanged businesses worldwide. According to both Shils [8] between South Indian traders and Oceanic Islanders [13]. and Geertz [9] there are common foci of primordial According to the Cambridge Ancient History, Italy had attachment, such as blood ties, race, language, religion, its greatest import from India which only ranked second or custom. If we follow this perspective on ethnic identity, to Spain in relation to trade (ibid). Greek and Roman entrepreneurial behaviour of a given community could traders frequently visited the southern coast of the Indian be derived from their ancestral heritage. For instance, subcontinent during the first century B.C. and Tamil Tamil entrepreneurial traditions and values are also merchants are known to have exported items like spices, manifested in Tamil cultural texts such as Tirukkural. pearls, peacocks and most probably other products to the However, in the contemporary period of globalization, Mediterranean lands [14]. The Greek thinkers and writers Tamil entrepreneurship takes on a more instrumental like Herodotus and Homer identified Tamil traders as characterises. Those who consider ethnicity and its other Ethiopians and referred to them as “Eastern Ethiopians” ingredients as a situational phenomenon that the social (Ibid). Military and trade relations between Chola context determines have been vindicated. For those who Emperors and Sri Vijaya (based on modern Sumatra) subscribe to the situational approach, ethnicity is not in particular helped to build racial and cultural relations a given and therefore it is something that needs to be and establishment of Dravidian colonies in the Southeast explained using socio-structural variables. Therefore, Asian region. Two brothers Sena and Guttika (237-215 both primordial and situational perspectives would be B.C.) who conquered and established their colonies in the useful in terms of getting a general idea about Tamil Northern and North-Central provinces in Ceylon were entrepreneurship. also known as Tamil traders from South India [15]. The distinctions and tendencies of each sub division The Shudra (the bottom line of the Hindu caste of Tamil trade also seem to have stimulated from given structure) or proletariat approach on Tamil Diaspora could situations. This circumstance is solely interconnected to be applied specially to the recruitment of Tamil labour for the Tamil Diaspora and, it could be classified under two the colonial plantation enterprise in Asia, Africa and Latin divisions; those who migrated in historical times and those America in the modern period. The vast exploitation of who migrated in the modern period. The flourishing of Tamil labour recruitment for plantation sectors of many economic and political power of Chola rulers from the 9th parts of the world was started by the British from the to 10th centuries AD led to the spread of Tamil trade and 18th century. The global migration of Tamil labourers culture to the outside world over time. In contrast, the is directly related to the historical expansion of global expansion of the modern Tamil-Diaspora began mostly capitalism. Although the colonial plantation economy was from the 18th century covering to some degree in all successful in introducing some structural changes within continents respectively. Arokiaswamy [10] offers a three- the pre-capitalist modes of production, it did not carry out fold theory to explain the transmission of Indian culture complete capitalist transformation [16]. Therefore, the to South East Asia, via Kshatriya or Aristocrat theory, the colonial plantation economy faced some challenges in University of Jaffna - 178 - Proceedings of Jaffna University International Research Conference (JUICE 2014) Track:
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