From Factory Workers to Owners: Informality, Recurseo, and Entrepreneurship in the Development of the Peruvian Community of Paterson, New Jersey 1960-2001

• In Event: Class and Labor Migrations to the United States

Abstract

Latino immigrants have been largely overgeneralized as low-income, subservient laborers. However, entrepreneurship has been used by Peruvians as a vehicle to forge economic independence in the United States. This investigation demonstrates how Peruvians in Paterson, New Jersey have utilized entrepreneurship to establish the first and most visible enclave of Peruvians in the United States since the 1960s. Central to the story of entrepreneurship and community development is the concept of recurseo, a slang word used to describe the informal and creative means in which working class Peruvians utilize their labor experiences and kinship ties to acquire better economic opportunities. By using strategies of recurseo, Peruvian migrants in Paterson were able to leave their blue-collar jobs and establish their own businesses. These entrepreneurs opened restaurants, insurance offices, travel agencies, and small corporations that created an emergent ethic market for products and services that would permanently alter the social and economic landscape of Paterson. This paper reveals that Peruvians relied principally on informal and resourceful mechanisms to become businessmen, organize themselves as entrepreneurs, and contribute to the development of a thriving ethnic enclave. Through fifty-five oral history interviews and the use of archival material from consulates and county tax offices, this project challenges the oversimplified portrayal of Peruvian immigrants, demonstrating their use of alternative economic strategies to achieve wealth, stability, and cultural continuity. By applying Bourdieusian perspectives on immigration, particularly the concepts of habitus and capital, this study offers the first historical account of the formation of the Peruvian community of Paterson.

Author

• Gianncarlo Muschi, University of Houston