Middleman minority

Middleman minority is a minority population whose considerable occupations are somewhere in between the producers and consumers: traders, money-lenders, etc., hence the word "middleman" in the term. ^[1] A middleman minority, while possibly being a subject to discrimination, does not hold an "extreme subordinate" status in society.^[2]

The book World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability introduces a similar concept of market-dominant minorities.

There are numerous examples of such groups gaining eventual prosperity in their adopted country despite discrimination. Often, they will take on roles between producer and consumer, such as trading and moneylending. Famous examples such as Jews throughout Europe even at times when the discrimination against them was at their peak such as during World War II they still had great success in some parts of Europe, Chinese throughout Southeast Asia, Parsis in India, Igbos in Nigeria, Indians in East Africa, people from the Soviet Blocs in the USA during the Cold War, and many others.^[1]

Stereotypically, middleman minorities are thrifty and save a large portion of their incomes, and have limited interaction with the native population in a country. Education is placed at a high premium among all of these groups. These groups usually become the most successful ethnic groups in a society soon after they immigrate, even though they are often poor when they first arrive. Middleman minorities usually provide an economic benefit to communities and nations and often start new industries. However, their economic aptitude, financial success, clannishness, common prejudices and paranoia against businesses and moneylending among other groups, and often disproportionate representation in universities and in politics, high representation in commerce and some high end white collar professional and managerial positions can cause resentment among the native population of a country. Middleman Minorities can be victims of violence, genocide, racialist programs, or other forms of repression. Other ethnic groups often accuse them of plotting conspiracies against their nation or of stealing wealth from the native population.^[1]

Examples of Middleman minorities

American Jews in the United States^[3]
European Jews in Europe^[3]
Ottoman Jews in the Ottoman Empire^[3]
Ottoman Greeks in the Ottoman Empire^[3]
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire^[4]
Armenians in Baku during the Russian Empire^[5]
Persian Armenians in Safavid dynasty^[6]^[7]
Azerbaijanis during the Imperial era of Iran (16th–20th centuries)^[8]
Azerbaijanis in the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire^[8]
Azerbaijanis in contemporary Iran^[8]
Azerbaijanis in contemporary Russia^[9]^[8]
Chinese Americans^[10]
Japanese Americans^[11]
Korean Americans^[12]
Cuban Americans^[3]
Greek Americans^[3]
Indian Americans^[3]
Armenian Americans^[3]
Irish and Italian Americans in the United States during the 19th century (especially early New York City)
Marwaris in Burma
Southern and Eastern Europeans in the Americas in the 19th and early 20th century
People from the Soviet Blocs in the United States during the Cold War
Asian Indians in East Africa^[3]
British Africans in Southern Africa
Chinese in Southeast Asia^[3]
Parsis in India, although having prospered, have done so under active patronisation of Indian rulers and have not been discriminated against because of their race.^[3]
Igbos in Nigeria
Croats in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Japanese in South America^[3]
Syrians in West Africa^[3]
Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians Christians in South America.^[13]

References

^[14]

^ ^a ^b ^c Sowell, Thomas (2005). "Is Anti-Semitism Generic?".
^ O'Brien, David J.; Stephen S. Fugita (April 1982). "Middleman Minority Concept: Its Explanatory Value in the Case of the Japanese in California Agriculture". The Pacific Sociological Review (
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Bonaichdoi, Edna (October 1973). "A Theory of Middleman Minorities". American Sociological Review 38 (5): 583–594.
^ Black Rednecks & White Liberals
^ Suny, Ronald Grigor. " Eastern Armenians Under Tsarist Rule" in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, p. 125.
^ Blow; p. 213.
^ Black Rednecks & White Liberals
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Swietochowski, Tadeusz (1985). Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community. Cambridge University Press.
^ Braux=, Adeline (3 December 2013). "Azerbaijani Migrants in Russia". Caucasus Analytical Digest 57 (5): 5–7.
^ "The Chinese in America: A Narrative History"
^ "Japanese Americans: The Development of a Middleman Minority"
^ "The Middleman Minority Characteristics Of Korean Immigrants In The United States"
^ Essays on Twentieth-Century History p.44
^ Silverman, Robert Mark. 2000. Doing Business in Minority Markets: Black and Korean Entrepreneurs in Chicago’s Ethnic Beauty Aids Industry. New York: Garland Publishing.

This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.

Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.

By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.

Middleman minority