Refugee entrepreneurship as narrative practice: identity, adaptation and embeddedness

Purpose This study explores how refugee entrepreneurs in Kampala, Uganda, construct and perform entrepreneurial identities through storytelling. It investigates how their experiences of precarity, embeddedness and adaptation are shaped and expressed through personal narratives in informal urban economies. The research aims to reframe refugee entrepreneurship as a socially and emotionally embedded practice, rather than purely economic activity. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study approach was used, drawing on six months of participant-generated online diaries and follow-up interviews with five refugee entrepreneurs. Thematic and narrative analysis was guided by the Multiple Embeddedness Framework and narrative identity theory to examine adaptive strategies, identity construction and embeddedness across social, institutional and transnational contexts. Findings Findings reveal that refugee entrepreneurship operates as a dynamic, emotionally charged practice shaped by care, improvisation and affective storytelling. Entrepreneurs engage in bricolage, digital self-performance and relational placemaking to navigate chronic uncertainty. Embeddedness is shown to be multidimensional and negotiated, while entrepreneurial identity emerges as a process of narrative meaning-making in displacement. Practical implications Findings suggest that support programs for refugee entrepreneurs should integrate psychosocial support, narrative empowerment and relational care frameworks alongside technical assistance. Originality/value This study contributes to refugee entrepreneurship research by integrating narrative identity theory with the Multiple Embeddedness Framework and centering lived experiences through diary-based methods. It highlights the symbolic and relational dimensions of entrepreneurship, advancing a more nuanced, affectively informed understanding of entrepreneurial resilience in displacement settings.