Diasporic and Transnational Internationalization: The Case of Brazilian Martial Arts

Brazilian diasporas overseas has received little academic interest. Nevertheless, estimates suggest that around three million Brazilians currently live in other countries. The present study looks at a specific type of diaspora: small entrepreneurs from the Brazilian martial arts sector. The study adopts the case study method of research. The unit of analysis is comprised by the martial arts (capoeira and Brazilian jiu-jitsu). Data analysis used secondary and primary data from interviews. Cross-case analysis searched for similarities and differences in the internationalization processes of the two martial arts, using several analytical devices, such as chronologies, timelines, matrices, and pattern matching analysis. Evidences suggest that the concept of diasporic internationalization fits better capoeira than Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, Brazilian jiu-jitsu shows an initial combination of diasporic and transnational characteristics, but more recently became fully transnational. Brazilian jiu-jitsu became a truly global business, formally organized and professionally managed. Capoeira, however, is still seen as non-commercial and as the preservation and practice of an ancient art. Such ethos, combined with the origin of its members in lower economic classes and their restricted access to capital turns internationalization into an often less profitable activity.

海外巴西侨民群体迄今鲜少获得学术研究关注。尽管如此，相关估算显示目前约有300万巴西人定居海外各国。本研究聚焦一类特定侨民群体：来自巴西武术行业的小微企业主。本研究采用案例研究法，分析单元为两类巴西武术：卡波耶拉（capoeira）与巴西柔术（Brazilian jiu-jitsu）。数据分析采用访谈获取的一手数据与二手资料。跨案例分析环节借助时序梳理、时间轴构建、矩阵分析与模式匹配分析等多种分析工具，探究两类武术国际化进程中的异同之处。研究证据表明，侨民国际化（diasporic internationalization）这一概念更契合卡波耶拉的国际化路径，而非巴西柔术。不过巴西柔术最初兼具侨民化与跨国化特征，近期则完全转向跨国化发展。巴西柔术已发展为真正意义上的全球化产业，具备正式的组织架构与专业的运营管理模式。而卡波耶拉至今仍被视为非商业化的古老艺术传承与练习活动。这类精神特质，加之从业者多来自低收入阶层且融资渠道受限，使得其国际化进程往往难以获得可观收益。