LIVES AND DREAMS: A STUDY OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEYS OF BOSNIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE STARTUP WORLD

This dissertation explores how Islamic faith, moral endurance, and community-based values shape the entrepreneurial practices of Bosnian immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States. Through three interrelated qualitative studies, it challenges dominant models of individualistic, profit-driven entrepreneurship by centering faith-informed ethics, relational motivation, and structural constraint. The first paper draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Islamic ethics, and critical theories of endurance to examine how entrepreneurs navigate their motivations across the business lifecycle. It finds that religious duty, family obligation, and social responsibility often blur the line between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, giving rise to a distinct moral logic of endurance grounded in faith and community. The second paper critiques the “hero-preneur" myth by documenting how Bosnian entrepreneurs respond to systemic barriers—such as financial exclusion and bureaucratic opacity—through informal networks, mutual aid, and peer mentorship. Rather than pursuing growth at all costs, they prioritize stability, sustainability, and collective well-being. This reframing contributes to immigrant and family entrepreneurship literature by emphasizing embeddedness, bounded solidarity, and moral economy. The third paper uses the lens of Entrepreneurship as Practice (EaP) and lived religion to analyze how Islamic values such as trust (amanah), interest avoidance (riba), and giving (zakat, sadaqah) are enacted in daily business routines. Entrepreneurs adapt their ethical commitments through what this study terms "conscientious pragmatism," balancing religious ideals with real-world constraints. Together, these papers offer a practice-based theory of faith-driven immigrant entrepreneurship that redefines success through ethical stewardship, relational responsibility, and spiritual accountability. The findings provide conceptual and practical insights for scholars and policymakers seeking to support culturally grounded forms of entrepreneurship among structurally excluded communities.