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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:What's new about Muslim Ismaili transnationalism? Comparing business practices in British East Africa, colonial Mozambique and contemporary Angola
Authors:Trovão, Susana Salvaterra
Batoréu, Filomena
Year:2013
Periodical:African and Asian Studies (ISSN 1569-2094)
Volume:12
Issue:3
Pages:215-244
Language:English
Geographic terms:East Africa
Angola
Mozambique
Subjects:Indians
entrepreneurs
colonialism
Islam
identity
External link:https://doi.org/10.1163/15692108-12341263
Abstract:The way in which the history of colonialism might link up with the formation of postcolonial migrant identities remains insufficiently examined. Through a comparison between transnational business practices of Khoja Ismaili Muslims settled in the British and Portuguese colonial territories of East Africa and in contemporary Angola, the present paper aims to discuss the impact of colonial experiences in the configuration of postcolonial business cultures. The continuing centrality of the nation-States in which Ismaili transnational economic activities are embedded, the notion of a disadvantageous network closure concomitant with the importance of face-to-face contacts, the mutual trust and understanding sustained through personal relations, and the tendency for national loyalty to prevail over religious belonging (whenever any potential conflict between the two exists) constitute crucial dimensions of an accumulated colonial knowledge which is significant in the analysis of the Ismaili competitive advantage in postcolonial Africa. The current Angolan context, absent from the available literature, was selected as a postcolonial case for comparison. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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