5073 - Migrant entrepreneurship and elite emergence: the Case of Palestinian entrepreneurs in Honduras

Honduras dominant groups, which control most of the social capital, are made up of twenty-nine families. Interestingly, nearly half of these affluent and politically influential families are of Arab-Palestinian descent. How does a (formerly) marginalized group of non-European descent become influential in the country’s economy and rigid ethno-racial political system and elite structures? This paper is about Arab-Palestinians in Honduras and their emergence as an economic elite. It discusses how affluent Arab-Palestinian families acquire enough capital (following Bourdieu), that is, economic, cultural, and particularly, social capital to enter and alter Honduras’ traditional elite structures.

Palavras-chaves: Arabs, elite formation, Honduras, migrant entrepreneurship

Autores: Gutierrez Rivera, Lirio (Freie Universitaet Berlin, desigualdades Research Network, Germany / Deutschland)