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Middleman minority

Minority whose main occupations link producers and consumers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A middleman minority is a minority population whose main occupations link producers and consumers: traders, money-lenders, service providers, etc. This often results in the minority having a disproportionately large role in trade, finance or commerce, without holding the significant political power associated with a dominant minority.

A middleman minority does not hold an "extreme subordinate" status in society,[1] but may suffer discrimination and bullying for being perceived as outsiders to both elite and majority populations.[2] Middleman minorities are more likely to emerge in stratified or colonial societies, where significant power gaps may exist between dominant elites and subordinate consumers, thereby fulfilling a niche within the economic status gap.[1]

Middleman minorities often are associated with stereotypes of greed or clannishness.[3] During periods of economic or political instability, middleman minorities often arouse the hostility of their host society or are used as scapegoats, which has been theorized by Bonacich to perpetuate a reluctance to assimilate completely.[4] Economic nationalism or exclusion from gainful employment can further reinforce tendencies to start businesses or create new economic value outside of existing value chains.[5][6]

The "middleman minority" concept was developed by sociologists Hubert Blalock and Edna Bonacich in the 1960s and by following political scientists and economists.[7]

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Examples

In Africa
In South Asia
In North America
In South America
  • Japanese in South America[4]
  • Lebanese in South America[12]
  • The majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries Middle Eastern immigrants to Brazil (Lebanese, Syrians, etc., collectively called "arabes" or "turcos", the latter term because they came from the Ottoman Empire) were peddlers, merchants and other types of non-"producers".[13]
In West Asia
Elsewhere
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See also

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References

Further reading

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