Muslim Women Entrepreneurs of Kolkata : Exploring Aspirations and Identity

Abstract

In the past one decade there has been an emergence of many Muslim business-women in the city of Kolkata. This observation drove me to conduct my Ph.D. research on Muslim women entrepreneurs of Kolkata using ethnography as the research method. The research is titled as ‘Muslim Women Entrepreneurs of Kolkata: Exploring Aspirations and Identity’. The primary objective of this research has been to explore aspiration building among these women and to analyse how it shapes their identity. While doing so the research looks into their journey as an entrepreneur highlighting their source of motivation, the challenges faced, the strategies used and the support received. It further investigates how their identity as an entrepreneur intersects with their gender, socioeconomic position and religious beliefs. Going into the specificities of their products and services, my research tries to unfold the multiple facets of their identity. I have used purposive and snowball sampling to select my respondents. Observation, in-depth interviews and focussed group discussions have been my primary research tools. Considering that Muslim women are not a homogenous category of individuals, my research incorporates an intersection of feminist theory, standpoint theory and identity theories within a structuralfunctionalist paradigm.