- Aug 2024
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www.proquest.com www.proquest.com
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we will take Branson’s autobiographyLosing My Virginityat face value
not the sort of statement you usually see in critical academic treatises
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While the processual stream of research within the European school has focussed on thecollective effort involved in entrepreneurship, the figure of the heroic entrepreneur remainswidespread in social media and popular culture
there's that reference to "process" again...
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criticallyconfront the portrayal of the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur as a cultural representation
...
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Although the critical strategy of unmasking has proved to be a fruitful way for debunkingthe fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur, we will adopt a different approach. Instead of looking atthe reality behind the fantasy of Branson, we propose to confront the fantasy itself.
I like this - debunking hardly ever works. If you are captivated by something (say, a fantasy), you're unlikely to be swayed from your ideological perspective. Rather than showing how a belief is false, they want to show how it gains its power. (read on...)
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fantasy is not a false mirage
the fantasy is real!
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we want to find the crack within the mask itself instead oflookingattherealitybehindthemask
interesting
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Branson’s public image istherefore an ideological construc
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“the mode of entrepreneurship outlined here [through analysingBranson], is not the Schumpeterian engine of innovation at the heart of the capitalisteconomy, but a social and economic pathology to which that economy is chronicallyvulnerable”
Dang! Entrepreneurship as either your friend in the struggle for (capitalist) success or a parasitic force manipulating us to buy into a dream that ultimately disables us more than it empowers us...
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read Branson’s autobiography asa literary instruction that teaches us how to desire
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To fullyequate the fantasy with reality and then spell out all the radical implications that follow.
unlike the traditional Marxist critical approach which eschews fantasy (it's dangerous, we must pull away the veil and reveal the truth behind the illusion), this tactic suggests we've got to confront the fantasy. Read it, understand it, even walk in its metaphorical shoes to truly realize what it feels like and how it works its magic (often by selling us impossibilities and contradictions)...
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a fantasy is a narrative that renders certain objects attractive for us. Put differently,fantasies reside in the narratives we tell, insofar as they render certain things desirable
!
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fantasies are never complet
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address the question of“Who is an entrepreneur?”without recourse to an essentialist mode ofthinking.
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read Branson’s autobiography as a symbolic structure thatcreates fantasies that the reader can adopt.
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fantasies are ridden with impossibilities and contradictions
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desiresignifies the way in which we long for, crave and feel a need for certain objects
We all desire ... what? Beyond the baser pleasures, the entrepreneurial dream is built on a desire for success manifest in (as the authors say) fame, fortune and glory. Everyone wants to be validated. Usually by others. Success provides a form of this.
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The entrepreneur should not only challenge the prevalent assumptions ofthe organization but also constantly challenge himself or herself. The desire for transgressionis therefore the entrepreneurial subject’s prime driver.
Genau! (one of my favourite German words)
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The role of fantasy is not toimage the realization of desires that we cannot fulfil in reality, but rather to make us capableof desiring in the first place.
When I first read this I simply wrote "Whoa!" -- then I thought a bit more about this ... what they're perhaps saying is that we get inspired by stories of entrepreneurs and not simply to revel in the possibility of something we can't achieve on our own (most of us won't be fabulously wealthy or achieve worldwide influencer status -- the people who are allow us to imagine that that is possible, though). Instead, these stories allow us to imagine -- they provide the coordinates of future possibility. I'm reminded of reading a story about Martha Stewart pitching the idea for her first TV series. Before she made millions offering an image of the perfect home and domesticity, a 20 year old Martha Stewart was named one of Glamour magazine's best-dressed college students. A successful model, she married and became a caterer, leveraged that into book publishing, then magazines, then TV. In 1995, New York Magazine called her "the definitive American woman of our time," and in 1999 she briefly became the first female ("self-made") billionaire in the U.S. She has always been a figure of desire (even her rise back from her 2003 indictment and jail term was aspirational/inspirational). ANYWAY (back to the TV anecdote)... when she pitched her idea for a TV show initially, she was told it would not work as no one could afford it (to which she reportedly replied "no, but they want to"). Fantasy and desire are the fuel of many a dream...
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The figure of the heroic entrepreneur is not an empty shell that can bemanipulated through desire, but rather a fantasy that“coordinate[s] desire”
really kind of distilling the thesis statement
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The public image of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, for instance,tends to elevate him to a“heroic status as if there is something unique to his psyche that isthe ultimate cause of his economic success”( Jones and Spicer, 2005, p. 237). But if we hadthe chance of actually meeting Gates in person, Jones and Spicer (2005) speculate, then wewould“find that Bill Gates is just an ordinary human being with perfectly normal andhuman neuroticism”(
This statement hits harder after the news of Bill Gates "questionable" conduct (according to the New York Times) that came to light amidst his 2021 divorce from his wife Melinda. Before, we never heard anything that might blight his (and even their) reputation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was an extra-ordinary achievement of philanthropy. In fact, we hardly ever heard about Melinda (echoing the statements a page ago) except as an adjunct of Bill.
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sublime object loses its aura and dissolves into an ordinary thing, because its seductiveappearance can be sustained only through distance.“If we get too near [the sublime object]”,Žižek (2008) explains, then“it loses its sublime features and becomes an ordinary vulgarobject
yowza! All that glitters is not gold. This reminds me of the edict to never meet your heroes -- they often turn out to be regular people (and the crushing feeling of disappointment when you find out that they might not deserve that pedestal you put them up on).
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Rather than assuming that the entrepreneurialpersonality can be characterized by set of unified traits, Steyaert (2007a) contends thatthe question should be approached from a narrative point of view
I really like this angle (and it's why I highlighted the "narrative turn" on pg. 230. This article engages in a "selective reading" (I love that term) of Branson's narrative (literally, his autobiography). But every account of entrepreneurs and their successes (and failures/struggles to succeed) can be understood as a story. We're not just reading the story of that individual (though that's often the focus); we are also encountering the story of entrepreneurship and the process of its ongoing fashioning/re-imagining. When I ask you to consider how you're entrepreneurial, I'm asking you to re-write your own story...
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Rarely do we encounter instances inwhich the sublime object of entrepreneurship is completely dispelled
yep ... even though we now know a lot more about Bill Gates, this is only a footnote appended to his larger story of incredible achievement via Microsoft...
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“as an‘empty’signifier [entrepreneurship] can be(almost) whatever one desires it to be”(
an interesting idea
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Žižek (2008) defines a sublime object as“a positive, materialobject elevated to the status of the impossible thing”( p. 77). At a distance, the sublime objectappears to possess divine and extraordinary qualities.
explaining a bit more why entrepreneurship might be considered "sublime"
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ntrepreneurship should beconceptualized in relation to the exploitation of opportunities, a view that has sparkeddebates over the extent to which such entrepreneurial opportunities are created ordiscovered
this is a really interesting question. If entrepreneurs exploit opportunities and take risks and create "stuff", how do these opportunities manifest themselves in the first place? Do people create their own opportunities (again, leaning towards the heroic extra-ordinary individual) or do they discover opportunities (that presumably are there for anyone to discover, if only they avail themselves of the "process"?
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“entrepreneur of the self”
really prescient observation!
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While critics have argued that the figure ofthe heroic entrepreneur is an ideological construct, we will argue that it is betterconceptualized as a fantasy that constitutes desire.
burying the thesis statement ... but also... the entrepreneur can be both an ideological construct and a fantasy that fuels and informs cultural desires...
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Perhaps the most contested“taken forgranted”(Gartner, 2013, p. 5) assumption underlying traditional entrepreneurshipresearch is the idea that the figure of the entrepreneur embodies“ephemeral qualities–freedom of spirit, creativity, vision, zeal”
yep! As we will likely keep coming back to this later in the course too...
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Branson recognizes no obstacles for his agentive progress, not even the sacrifice of that veryagentive self (Sørensen, 2008, 2010). Specifically, the entrepreneur should be devoted to“progress forever”and strive for an eternal“liberation from the chains of the world‘as it is’
this is a lesson in how everyone can supposedly be an "agent of change" (but starting with yourself... what can you change in yourself that will best bring about the change in the world around you that you're looking to achieve)
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t the dominant discourse on entrepreneurship conveys the“myth”oftheentrepreneurasa“masculine”white male possessing“super-normal qualities”
a distillation of the critical perspective ... not just highlighting a limited representation of entrepreneurial figures/heroes, but the exclusionary nature of this discourse also.
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Asa consequence of the persistent failure to conceptualize entrepreneurship in terms of thefigure of the heroic entrepreneur, many scholars have drawn attention to the entrepreneurialprocess
two different schools of thought re. entrepreneurs: (1) a heroic (lone) individual accomplishing awesome things by the force of their extraordinary grit/passion/insight/drive/etc, vs. (2) a focus on the social and cultural context that encourages entrepreneurial creation (and highlights the process of that creation).
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narrative turn
!
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ranson’s narrative creates the desire fortransgression (overcoming oneself). On the other hand, Branson’s narrative creates thedesire for authenticity (realizing oneself
fleshing out the thesis statement... the idealized image of the (heroic) entrepreneur is a figure embodying BOTH transgression and authenticity...
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sublime object of entrepreneurship
this is a fabulously rich term. Entrepreneurship is "sublime" which is to say, no longer a stable thing, but a phantasmic category (to quote Jones & Spicer's modern day classic work "Unmasking the entrepreneur"). Trying to nail down a final or absolute definition of the word is frustrating *but ultimately makes the figure more attractive and engaging). As a figure of discourse, the entrepreneur is desirable but ultimately empty (they suggest). Because we can never concretely recognize what constitutes an entrepreneur, they keep on becoming...
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there are somany stories, biographies, and myths told about and by entrepreneurs
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the heroicentrepreneur reminds us: not only should you have faith in yourself, you should have faiththat you can overcome your limitations. Not only should you believe that it can be done, youshould believe that everything can be done. And not only should you never give up, youshould be willing to sacrifice everything, even if it involves risking your life, in order toensure that you succeed.
you can see this principle over and over again in entrepreneurial narratives. It's embodied in the "Nothing is Impossible" meme I posted to the "Memes" section in this week's lesson (because taking these memes seriously is another way of "traversing the fantasy". Also, linking to Branson's "learning to swim" story, this reminds me of a crucial scene in the 1997 film Gattaca (involving swimming). You can check it out in the forum for this week...
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take the fantasy at its face value and spell out the implications thatfollow from i
kind of the article's mission statement ...
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transgression to denote the way in which the entrepreneur must exceed theboundaries and limits restricting his or her scope of action. Thus, transgression consists ofovercoming those barriers that are believed to restrain one’s ability to think and act.
crucial insight
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a fantasyconstitutes our desire, provides its co-ordinates, that is, it literally‘teaches us how to desire’”(Žižek, 1997, p. 7). Thus, fantasies are narratives that encourage us to want or long forcertain things.
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create structures of desire that teach us how to desireto become an entrepreneur
all of the success stories surrounding entrepreneurs encourage us to want to be entrepreneurs... and not just the heroic version either! All the narratives of people with side-hustles teach us to desire a similar pursuit, selling a gig-economy and precarious labour under the guise of passion and self-improvement... It's not just that we are all entrepreneurs (Szeman), but that we desire to be... (because we all DESIRE (or ought to desire, supposedly) more success, more freedom, more independence (financially and otherwise)...)
And maybe, the more we desire and dream, the more we might do (converting our desires into action and making our dreams reality !!)
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Instead ofeschewing the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur, this paper will confront the fantasy
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entrepreneurs share acommon set of characteristics, such as the propensity for“risk-taking
major theme this week (and of most standard bios of entrepreneurs, in addition to popular discourse about them...)
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the narrativesof heroic entrepreneurs
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nquestioning idealization of the entrepreneur
Western, capitalist culture tends to engage in this discourse (even non-capitalist scenes lionize the person who "made it" or who "made a difference" through their entrepreneurial initiative...
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gender biased
when you think of an entrepreneurial stereotype (or a profile of a superstar achiever), what does that person look like?
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Even through his glorious failures, the entrepreneur shows thatfailure marks the path of the righteous, making him the redeemer of the economy
and this is the power of the (heroic) entrepreneur-figure. They bring redemption (of themselves, communities, economies, etc...)
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This paper is concerned with the difficulty of thinking beyond the figure of the heroicentrepreneur
inching toward a thesis statement...
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the entrepreneurial process
this is what I was highlighting in the recommended reading this week (Hero review)...
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it“is difficultnotto think”that entrepreneurs are“special people
do you think that entrepreneurs are "special people" who are "high achievers" that accomplish things most of us don't (or can't)? Or... do you think being entrepreneurial (or engaging in entrepreneurship) is or can be an "everyday" phenomenon (which wouldn't make it special at all...)
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“heroic creator
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becoming a successful entrepreneur, as described inBranson’s narrative, can take place only after one has simultaneously overcome oneself(transgression) and become oneself (authenticity)
the point of their "selective reading" ... From Branson's story we can learn something important about all entrepreneurs...
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accomplishments are“based on some special innerquality”
this helps to explain why so much focus on entrepreneurs is actually a focus on their special qualities - what makes them stand out from the crowd? If we can isolate the traits of high achievers, maybe we can spread these qualities to others... This also begs the question -- are such qualities inborn or can they be cultivated? Can you develop entrepreneurial acumen or is it a case of you either have it or you don't?
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a high degree of“self-reliance”
think "locus of control" -- going to come up in the Baron reading in week 10 also...
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this paper critically engages directly with the heroicentrepreneur by exploring how this figure is a fantasy
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Google locus of control entrepreneur -- one of the big traits! (Also related to "bias for action" (more of a design-school thing...)
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the figure ofthe heroic entrepreneur is not just someone who embodies extraordinary qualities.This figure is also ridden with paradoxes, impossibilities and contradictions.
!
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the entrepreneurial subject iscaught between the desire to overcome oneself (transgression) and the desire to stay true tooneself (authenticity)
the entrepreneurial person is never engaged in just one of these struggles, but both of them
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we discover the uncannyfact that just as we clearly cannot become the hero of this narrative, it is also impossible forSir Richard Branson to become that figure. Branson cannot be himself; he is a stranger evento himself. And here lies his appeal: it is exactly because he expresses incompleteness andparadox as an inevitable human condition that he is attractive.
food for thought ... tying all of us into the fantasy...
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the heroic entrepreneur circulating in social media and popular culture is not aflawless and sublime character, but rather a fragile and vulnerable construct
an important insight.
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the figure of the entrepreneur emergesas a redeemer who sacrifices himself for the sake of the company
hmmm... something we'll explore more when it comes to entrepreneurs' mental health...
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critical entrepreneurship studiescould benefit from an approach that looks critically at how the cultural representation ofbusiness today thrives on rebellious narratives and celebrates the heroic entrepreneur as asource of value creation. Yet, it is precisely the same impossibilities that we struggle with,and which makes his narrative appealing to the reader
an overview...
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even if death (andtaxes) remain sure-fire things, facing the ultimate opponent (death for a human, the state’staxation for an entrepreneur) is what the entrepreneur must seek to transgress.
yowza!
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, transgression is the road to redemption, since only by overcomingyourself is it possible to attain authenticity
paradox again!
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“integrity of the self comes from creating apersonal belief system”
Food for thought: what personal belief system motivates you?
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more general desire for authenticity, offering“access to an inner moral voice of conscience, an intuitive feeling or sentiment that gives usmoral guidance as to how we should act”(
Like Branson's "conversion", every entrepreneur's story generally will at least hint at some similar moment where they crossed the threshold of the ordinary to the extraordinary and trumpet something that steels them no matter the challenges they may confront...
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the paradoxical fact that achieving a full life can only beaccomplished by living a life that always remains incomplete
so happiness means never being satisfied?
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one cannever completely achieve a full life according to this logic, because there are always newchallenges that have not yet been accomplished.
the paradox at the heart of this contradiction. Check out my link to stoic philosophy and pop-rock lyrics in the "memes" section...
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Failure to have anyboundaries that one wants to transgress is therefore a constant threat. Every time“we feelsure that we have fulfilled a desire, we find out that there is something missing still.We want more. We want something else”
complacency sucks! (see the comfortable meme)
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the story describes a subject that desires transgression in the sense of overcomingbarriers that hinder self-realization
the point of the story about how he struggled so much (but ended up achieving so much)
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What is important is to transgressboundaries
entrepreneurial bias for action...
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. Limits are but hindrances that have not yet been transgressed
back to the idea that the obstacle is the way ... if only you let it be...
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there is a fundamental impossibility that resideswithin the desire for transgression. This impasse stems from the paradox of perpetuallypushing limits. As Branson (2009) explains, his“interest in life comes from setting myself huge,apparently unachievable, challenges and striving to raise above them”
one of those contradictions in the fantasy that we were warned about earlier...
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Clearly, the desire for transgression is radically different from theconventional wisdom expressed by Drucker (2005) that you should“improve your strengths”while evading your“weaknesses”. Rather, the underlying message in Branson’sstoryisthatyou should turn your weaknesses into strengths.
perhaps you've heard of the expression "The obstacle is the way" ... this ties in to this brilliantly
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the entrepreneur assomeone who is“swimming against the stream”(
transgression writ large. Refusing to play by the rules (otherwise, you'd be "just like anyone" (quoting the lyrics of the song by Soul Asylum: She starts wonderin' what its like to be Liked by everyone and like everyone Be just like anyone and just wants to be so Just like anyone and wonderin what they mean Do they just mean to be mean and thinkin' bout The scene do they just want to be seen Try not to seem so just like anyone Just like anyone) Yes indeed, it seems as though the life mission of the entrepreneur is to not get sucked into this black hole...
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the one who is able to achieve transgression and authenticity
all entrepreneurs have to be able to transgress (who they currently are in order to become something more) AND remain true to who they are. For how else could you rise above? What a fabulous contradiction.
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stories paint a picture of Branson as anentrepreneur who constantly seeks new challenges by testing the limit of what is possible
linking to what I said last week ... these stories purport to show how the possible may be made real. Nothing is therefore impossible (if you just can embody the awesome traits that Branson suggests were necessary for his success)
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the desire for transgression (overcoming oneself) and the desire forauthenticity (becoming oneself) make up the entrepreneurial subjectivity
not just in Branson's case either. I think it's reasonable to suggest that these are potentially pillars in any entrepreneurial mindset.
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Branson’snarrative, which is constituted by the desire for transgression (overcoming oneself) and thedesire for authenticity (becoming oneself).
the way that the article's authors thematize Branson's extra-ordinary qualities...
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the two narratives operate asfantasies, since they render certain ideals–that is, transgression and authenticity–desirable
the logic whereby the fantasy of achieving Branson-like success becomes knowable... (and desirable)
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Branson’s constant effort to overcome himself while the second anecdote has beenchosen because it illustrates his struggle to remain true to himself.
food for thought... which "desire" resonates more with you?
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weareonlyableto“discover depth after conquering the surfaces
hah!
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www.emerald.com www.emerald.com
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we will take Branson’s autobiographyLosing My Virginityat face value
not the sort of statement you usually see in critical academic treatises
-
Although the critical strategy of unmasking has proved to be a fruitful way for debunkingthe fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur, we will adopt a different approach. Instead of looking atthe reality behind the fantasy of Branson, we propose to confront the fantasy itself.
I like this - debunking hardly ever works. If you are captivated by something (say, a fantasy), you're unlikely to be swayed from your ideological perspective. Rather than showing how a belief is false, they want to show how it gains its power. (read on...)
-
fantasy is not a false mirage
the fantasy is real!
-
While the processual stream of research within the European school has focussed on thecollective effort involved in entrepreneurship, the figure of the heroic entrepreneur remainswidespread in social media and popular culture
there's that reference to "process" again...
-
we want to find the crack within the mask itself instead oflookingattherealitybehindthemask
interesting
-
“the mode of entrepreneurship outlined here [through analysingBranson], is not the Schumpeterian engine of innovation at the heart of the capitalisteconomy, but a social and economic pathology to which that economy is chronicallyvulnerable”
Dang! Entrepreneurship as either your friend in the struggle for (capitalist) success or a parasitic force manipulating us to buy into a dream that ultimately disables us more than it empowers us...
-
criticallyconfront the portrayal of the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur as a cultural representation
...
-
read Branson’s autobiography asa literary instruction that teaches us how to desire
-
a fantasy is a narrative that renders certain objects attractive for us. Put differently,fantasies reside in the narratives we tell, insofar as they render certain things desirable
!
-
To fullyequate the fantasy with reality and then spell out all the radical implications that follow.
unlike the traditional Marxist critical approach which eschews fantasy (it's dangerous, we must pull away the veil and reveal the truth behind the illusion), this tactic suggests we've got to confront the fantasy. Read it, understand it, even walk in its metaphorical shoes to truly realize what it feels like and how it works its magic (often by selling us impossibilities and contradictions)...
-
Branson’s public image istherefore an ideological construc
-
address the question of“Who is an entrepreneur?”without recourse to an essentialist mode ofthinking.
-
fantasies are never complet
-
fantasies are ridden with impossibilities and contradictions
-
desiresignifies the way in which we long for, crave and feel a need for certain objects
We all desire ... what? Beyond the baser pleasures, the entrepreneurial dream is built on a desire for success manifest in (as the authors say) fame, fortune and glory. Everyone wants to be validated. Usually by others. Success provides a form of this.
-
The entrepreneur should not only challenge the prevalent assumptions ofthe organization but also constantly challenge himself or herself. The desire for transgressionis therefore the entrepreneurial subject’s prime driver.
Genau! (one of my favourite German words)
-
read Branson’s autobiography as a symbolic structure thatcreates fantasies that the reader can adopt.
-
The role of fantasy is not toimage the realization of desires that we cannot fulfil in reality, but rather to make us capableof desiring in the first place.
When I first read this I simply wrote "Whoa!" -- then I thought a bit more about this ... what they're perhaps saying is that we get inspired by stories of entrepreneurs and not simply to revel in the possibility of something we can't achieve on our own (most of us won't be fabulously wealthy or achieve worldwide influencer status -- the people who are allow us to imagine that that is possible, though). Instead, these stories allow us to imagine -- they provide the coordinates of future possibility. I'm reminded of reading a story about Martha Stewart pitching the idea for her first TV series. Before she made millions offering an image of the perfect home and domesticity, a 20 year old Martha Stewart was named one of Glamour magazine's best-dressed college students. A successful model, she married and became a caterer, leveraged that into book publishing, then magazines, then TV. In 1995, New York Magazine called her "the definitive American woman of our time," and in 1999 she briefly became the first female ("self-made") billionaire in the U.S. She has always been a figure of desire (even her rise back from her 2003 indictment and jail term was aspirational/inspirational). ANYWAY (back to the TV anecdote)... when she pitched her idea for a TV show initially, she was told it would not work as no one could afford it (to which she reportedly replied "no, but they want to"). Fantasy and desire are the fuel of many a dream...
-
The figure of the heroic entrepreneur is not an empty shell that can bemanipulated through desire, but rather a fantasy that“coordinate[s] desire”
really kind of distilling the thesis statement
-
sublime object loses its aura and dissolves into an ordinary thing, because its seductiveappearance can be sustained only through distance.“If we get too near [the sublime object]”,Žižek (2008) explains, then“it loses its sublime features and becomes an ordinary vulgarobject
yowza! All that glitters is not gold. This reminds me of the edict to never meet your heroes -- they often turn out to be regular people (and the crushing feeling of disappointment when you find out that they might not deserve that pedestal you put them up on).
-
“as an‘empty’signifier [entrepreneurship] can be(almost) whatever one desires it to be”(
an interesting idea
-
The public image of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, for instance,tends to elevate him to a“heroic status as if there is something unique to his psyche that isthe ultimate cause of his economic success”( Jones and Spicer, 2005, p. 237). But if we hadthe chance of actually meeting Gates in person, Jones and Spicer (2005) speculate, then wewould“find that Bill Gates is just an ordinary human being with perfectly normal andhuman neuroticism”(
This statement hits harder after the news of Bill Gates "questionable" conduct (according to the New York Times) that came to light amidst his 2021 divorce from his wife Melinda. Before, we never heard anything that might blight his (and even their) reputation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was an extra-ordinary achievement of philanthropy. In fact, we hardly ever heard about Melinda (echoing the statements a page ago) except as an adjunct of Bill.
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Rarely do we encounter instances inwhich the sublime object of entrepreneurship is completely dispelled
yep ... even though we now know a lot more about Bill Gates, this is only a footnote appended to his larger story of incredible achievement via Microsoft...
-
“entrepreneur of the self”
really prescient observation!
-
Žižek (2008) defines a sublime object as“a positive, materialobject elevated to the status of the impossible thing”( p. 77). At a distance, the sublime objectappears to possess divine and extraordinary qualities.
explaining a bit more why entrepreneurship might be considered "sublime"
-
ntrepreneurship should beconceptualized in relation to the exploitation of opportunities, a view that has sparkeddebates over the extent to which such entrepreneurial opportunities are created ordiscovered
this is a really interesting question. If entrepreneurs exploit opportunities and take risks and create "stuff", how do these opportunities manifest themselves in the first place? Do people create their own opportunities (again, leaning towards the heroic extra-ordinary individual) or do they discover opportunities (that presumably are there for anyone to discover, if only they avail themselves of the "process"?
-
Rather than assuming that the entrepreneurialpersonality can be characterized by set of unified traits, Steyaert (2007a) contends thatthe question should be approached from a narrative point of view
I really like this angle (and it's why I highlighted the "narrative turn" on pg. 230. This article engages in a "selective reading" (I love that term) of Branson's narrative (literally, his autobiography). But every account of entrepreneurs and their successes (and failures/struggles to succeed) can be understood as a story. We're not just reading the story of that individual (though that's often the focus); we are also encountering the story of entrepreneurship and the process of its ongoing fashioning/re-imagining. When I ask you to consider how you're entrepreneurial, I'm asking you to re-write your own story...
-
Branson recognizes no obstacles for his agentive progress, not even the sacrifice of that veryagentive self (Sørensen, 2008, 2010). Specifically, the entrepreneur should be devoted to“progress forever”and strive for an eternal“liberation from the chains of the world‘as it is’
this is a lesson in how everyone can supposedly be an "agent of change" (but starting with yourself... what can you change in yourself that will best bring about the change in the world around you that you're looking to achieve)
-
While critics have argued that the figure ofthe heroic entrepreneur is an ideological construct, we will argue that it is betterconceptualized as a fantasy that constitutes desire.
burying the thesis statement ... but also... the entrepreneur can be both an ideological construct and a fantasy that fuels and informs cultural desires...
-
Perhaps the most contested“taken forgranted”(Gartner, 2013, p. 5) assumption underlying traditional entrepreneurshipresearch is the idea that the figure of the entrepreneur embodies“ephemeral qualities–freedom of spirit, creativity, vision, zeal”
yep! As we will likely keep coming back to this later in the course too...
-
Asa consequence of the persistent failure to conceptualize entrepreneurship in terms of thefigure of the heroic entrepreneur, many scholars have drawn attention to the entrepreneurialprocess
two different schools of thought re. entrepreneurs: (1) a heroic (lone) individual accomplishing awesome things by the force of their extraordinary grit/passion/insight/drive/etc, vs. (2) a focus on the social and cultural context that encourages entrepreneurial creation (and highlights the process of that creation).
-
narrative turn
!
-
ranson’s narrative creates the desire fortransgression (overcoming oneself). On the other hand, Branson’s narrative creates thedesire for authenticity (realizing oneself
fleshing out the thesis statement... the idealized image of the (heroic) entrepreneur is a figure embodying BOTH transgression and authenticity...
-
t the dominant discourse on entrepreneurship conveys the“myth”oftheentrepreneurasa“masculine”white male possessing“super-normal qualities”
a distillation of the critical perspective ... not just highlighting a limited representation of entrepreneurial figures/heroes, but the exclusionary nature of this discourse also.
-
there are somany stories, biographies, and myths told about and by entrepreneurs
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the heroicentrepreneur reminds us: not only should you have faith in yourself, you should have faiththat you can overcome your limitations. Not only should you believe that it can be done, youshould believe that everything can be done. And not only should you never give up, youshould be willing to sacrifice everything, even if it involves risking your life, in order toensure that you succeed.
you can see this principle over and over again in entrepreneurial narratives. It's embodied in the "Nothing is Impossible" meme I posted to the "Memes" section in this week's lesson (because taking these memes seriously is another way of "traversing the fantasy". Also, linking to Branson's "learning to swim" story, this reminds me of a crucial scene in the 1997 film Gattaca (involving swimming). You can check it out in the forum for this week...
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create structures of desire that teach us how to desireto become an entrepreneur
all of the success stories surrounding entrepreneurs encourage us to want to be entrepreneurs... and not just the heroic version either! All the narratives of people with side-hustles teach us to desire a similar pursuit, selling a gig-economy and precarious labour under the guise of passion and self-improvement... It's not just that we are all entrepreneurs (Szeman), but that we desire to be... (because we all DESIRE (or ought to desire, supposedly) more success, more freedom, more independence (financially and otherwise)...)
And maybe, the more we desire and dream, the more we might do (converting our desires into action and making our dreams reality !!)
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transgression to denote the way in which the entrepreneur must exceed theboundaries and limits restricting his or her scope of action. Thus, transgression consists ofovercoming those barriers that are believed to restrain one’s ability to think and act.
crucial insight
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take the fantasy at its face value and spell out the implications thatfollow from i
kind of the article's mission statement ...
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sublime object of entrepreneurship
this is a fabulously rich term. Entrepreneurship is "sublime" which is to say, no longer a stable thing, but a phantasmic category (to quote Jones & Spicer's modern day classic work "Unmasking the entrepreneur"). Trying to nail down a final or absolute definition of the word is frustrating *but ultimately makes the figure more attractive and engaging). As a figure of discourse, the entrepreneur is desirable but ultimately empty (they suggest). Because we can never concretely recognize what constitutes an entrepreneur, they keep on becoming...
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Instead ofeschewing the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur, this paper will confront the fantasy
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the narrativesof heroic entrepreneurs
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a fantasyconstitutes our desire, provides its co-ordinates, that is, it literally‘teaches us how to desire’”(Žižek, 1997, p. 7). Thus, fantasies are narratives that encourage us to want or long forcertain things.
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nquestioning idealization of the entrepreneur
Western, capitalist culture tends to engage in this discourse (even non-capitalist scenes lionize the person who "made it" or who "made a difference" through their entrepreneurial initiative...
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gender biased
when you think of an entrepreneurial stereotype (or a profile of a superstar achiever), what does that person look like?
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“heroic creator
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it“is difficultnotto think”that entrepreneurs are“special people
do you think that entrepreneurs are "special people" who are "high achievers" that accomplish things most of us don't (or can't)? Or... do you think being entrepreneurial (or engaging in entrepreneurship) is or can be an "everyday" phenomenon (which wouldn't make it special at all...)
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Even through his glorious failures, the entrepreneur shows thatfailure marks the path of the righteous, making him the redeemer of the economy
and this is the power of the (heroic) entrepreneur-figure. They bring redemption (of themselves, communities, economies, etc...)
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This paper is concerned with the difficulty of thinking beyond the figure of the heroicentrepreneur
inching toward a thesis statement...
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accomplishments are“based on some special innerquality”
this helps to explain why so much focus on entrepreneurs is actually a focus on their special qualities - what makes them stand out from the crowd? If we can isolate the traits of high achievers, maybe we can spread these qualities to others... This also begs the question -- are such qualities inborn or can they be cultivated? Can you develop entrepreneurial acumen or is it a case of you either have it or you don't?
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Google locus of control entrepreneur -- one of the big traits! (Also related to "bias for action" (more of a design-school thing...)
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entrepreneurs share acommon set of characteristics, such as the propensity for“risk-taking
major theme this week (and of most standard bios of entrepreneurs, in addition to popular discourse about them...)
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a high degree of“self-reliance”
think "locus of control" -- going to come up in the Baron reading in week 10 also...
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this paper critically engages directly with the heroicentrepreneur by exploring how this figure is a fantasy
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critical entrepreneurship studiescould benefit from an approach that looks critically at how the cultural representation ofbusiness today thrives on rebellious narratives and celebrates the heroic entrepreneur as asource of value creation. Yet, it is precisely the same impossibilities that we struggle with,and which makes his narrative appealing to the reader
an overview...
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the entrepreneurial process
this is what I was highlighting in the recommended reading this week (Hero review)...
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becoming a successful entrepreneur, as described inBranson’s narrative, can take place only after one has simultaneously overcome oneself(transgression) and become oneself (authenticity)
the point of their "selective reading" ... From Branson's story we can learn something important about all entrepreneurs...
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the entrepreneurial subject iscaught between the desire to overcome oneself (transgression) and the desire to stay true tooneself (authenticity)
the entrepreneurial person is never engaged in just one of these struggles, but both of them
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, transgression is the road to redemption, since only by overcomingyourself is it possible to attain authenticity
paradox again!
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we discover the uncannyfact that just as we clearly cannot become the hero of this narrative, it is also impossible forSir Richard Branson to become that figure. Branson cannot be himself; he is a stranger evento himself. And here lies his appeal: it is exactly because he expresses incompleteness andparadox as an inevitable human condition that he is attractive.
food for thought ... tying all of us into the fantasy...
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the figure ofthe heroic entrepreneur is not just someone who embodies extraordinary qualities.This figure is also ridden with paradoxes, impossibilities and contradictions.
!
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the heroic entrepreneur circulating in social media and popular culture is not aflawless and sublime character, but rather a fragile and vulnerable construct
an important insight.
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more general desire for authenticity, offering“access to an inner moral voice of conscience, an intuitive feeling or sentiment that gives usmoral guidance as to how we should act”(
Like Branson's "conversion", every entrepreneur's story generally will at least hint at some similar moment where they crossed the threshold of the ordinary to the extraordinary and trumpet something that steels them no matter the challenges they may confront...
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even if death (andtaxes) remain sure-fire things, facing the ultimate opponent (death for a human, the state’staxation for an entrepreneur) is what the entrepreneur must seek to transgress.
yowza!
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the figure of the entrepreneur emergesas a redeemer who sacrifices himself for the sake of the company
hmmm... something we'll explore more when it comes to entrepreneurs' mental health...
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“integrity of the self comes from creating apersonal belief system”
Food for thought: what personal belief system motivates you?
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one cannever completely achieve a full life according to this logic, because there are always newchallenges that have not yet been accomplished.
the paradox at the heart of this contradiction. Check out my link to stoic philosophy and pop-rock lyrics in the "memes" section...
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Failure to have anyboundaries that one wants to transgress is therefore a constant threat. Every time“we feelsure that we have fulfilled a desire, we find out that there is something missing still.We want more. We want something else”
complacency sucks! (see the comfortable meme)
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the paradoxical fact that achieving a full life can only beaccomplished by living a life that always remains incomplete
so happiness means never being satisfied?
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What is important is to transgressboundaries
entrepreneurial bias for action...
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the entrepreneur assomeone who is“swimming against the stream”(
transgression writ large. Refusing to play by the rules (otherwise, you'd be "just like anyone" (quoting the lyrics of the song by Soul Asylum: She starts wonderin' what its like to be Liked by everyone and like everyone Be just like anyone and just wants to be so Just like anyone and wonderin what they mean Do they just mean to be mean and thinkin' bout The scene do they just want to be seen Try not to seem so just like anyone Just like anyone) Yes indeed, it seems as though the life mission of the entrepreneur is to not get sucked into this black hole...
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. Limits are but hindrances that have not yet been transgressed
back to the idea that the obstacle is the way ... if only you let it be...
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there is a fundamental impossibility that resideswithin the desire for transgression. This impasse stems from the paradox of perpetuallypushing limits. As Branson (2009) explains, his“interest in life comes from setting myself huge,apparently unachievable, challenges and striving to raise above them”
one of those contradictions in the fantasy that we were warned about earlier...
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the story describes a subject that desires transgression in the sense of overcomingbarriers that hinder self-realization
the point of the story about how he struggled so much (but ended up achieving so much)
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Clearly, the desire for transgression is radically different from theconventional wisdom expressed by Drucker (2005) that you should“improve your strengths”while evading your“weaknesses”. Rather, the underlying message in Branson’sstoryisthatyou should turn your weaknesses into strengths.
perhaps you've heard of the expression "The obstacle is the way" ... this ties in to this brilliantly
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the one who is able to achieve transgression and authenticity
all entrepreneurs have to be able to transgress (who they currently are in order to become something more) AND remain true to who they are. For how else could you rise above? What a fabulous contradiction.
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Branson’s constant effort to overcome himself while the second anecdote has beenchosen because it illustrates his struggle to remain true to himself.
food for thought... which "desire" resonates more with you?
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the two narratives operate asfantasies, since they render certain ideals–that is, transgression and authenticity–desirable
the logic whereby the fantasy of achieving Branson-like success becomes knowable... (and desirable)
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Branson’snarrative, which is constituted by the desire for transgression (overcoming oneself) and thedesire for authenticity (becoming oneself).
the way that the article's authors thematize Branson's extra-ordinary qualities...
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weareonlyableto“discover depth after conquering the surfaces
hah!
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the desire for transgression (overcoming oneself) and the desire forauthenticity (becoming oneself) make up the entrepreneurial subjectivity
not just in Branson's case either. I think it's reasonable to suggest that these are potentially pillars in any entrepreneurial mindset.
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stories paint a picture of Branson as anentrepreneur who constantly seeks new challenges by testing the limit of what is possible
linking to what I said last week ... these stories purport to show how the possible may be made real. Nothing is therefore impossible (if you just can embody the awesome traits that Branson suggests were necessary for his success)
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watermark.silverchair.com watermark.silverchair.com
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The affect attendant to entrepreneur-ialism is not one that dissipates the energies for change through a faux rec-onciliation with the present, as mediated by optimistic fantasies of the future. Rather, it affirms the desirability of the present circumstances that enable entrepreneurialism and equates subjects’ systems of attachment with an ideal system of belonging and behaving such that, even as entrepreneurs insist on the significance of their contributions in shaping the future, they occupy an ahistorical social landscape in which time stands still.
This is some really "heavy" language (and seemingly awfully fatalistic too).
Don't worry if it twists your melon a bit.
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The concept of entrepreneurship extends back to the eighteenth cen-tury, when economist Richard Cantillon (2010) famously described the term “entrepreneur” as a “bearer of risk.”
The concept of managing risk (and welcoming it, vs. avoiding it in a more secure job working for an institution rather than for yourself) is a major theme of entrepreneurship...
You'll see how this keeps coming up in this article (as well as many others we'll be reading this semester). It is obvious at the bottom of pg. 475 and implicit in the later discussions of (flirting with) failure.
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The language of risk and uncertainty that has always accompanied entrepreneurial activity has today become generalized.
risk again! Pervasive throughout this reading (and the entire discourse of entrepreneurialism)
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We are all entrepreneurs now; everyone will have to become an entrepre-neur.
I've provided an example of this in the "food for thought" forum for this week. You can, of course, do the same... There are so many examples of "everyday" entrepreneurialism ...
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the traits required for the kind of celebrated entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Waterloo, Ontario, are just as necessary for the hawkers, import-ers, bootleggers, market merchants, restaurateurs, scavengers, mechanics, and other entrepreneurial subjects whose labor takes place off the books all over the world
This statement stood out and made me say hmmm!
This foreshadows subsequent weeks of the course (Entrepreneurialism, innovation, and self-reliance are crucial elements of what Baron calls “Tools Entrepreneurs Need for Converting Dreams To Reality—And Achieving Success.” And these are also key to "unconventional entrepreneurship").
It also begs the question, "can anyone be an entrepreneur?" and "can anyone be entrepreneurial"? We easily give the label 'entrepreneur' to people like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or even less known business successes like Sarah Blakely, but what about hawkers, scavengers, etc? By this logic, who isn't an entrepreneur (or at least entrepreneurial)? Can anyone be an "informal" entrepreneur? This really underscores Szeman's earlier comment/thesis statement that we're all entrepreneurs now (or will have to act or think along those lines) even if we're not aspiring to be prototypical success stories like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Must, etc...
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We are all entrepreneurs now
This is the "modus operandi" for the whole course! What does this mean (for you)?
p.s. - this refrain is repeated at the bottom of pg. 474...
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the designation of entrepreneur as a new ideal of contemporary subjectivity has produced a change in how the poor understand themselves. Many now feel that they have no way to escape poverty other than by becoming entre-preneurs,
I'm curious what you think of this statement -- this also applies to all sorts of precarious employment or people like yourselves seeking a better job, or a permanent job and being told that looking for a job is a full time job ... so one protects oneself by becoming one's own source of income (side-hustle or entrepreneurial initiatives are posited as the only (or the surest) way to escape one's current position...
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“cruel optimism”
I think this is a very powerful concept -- as a former student said, entrepreneurs must have cruel optimism, individuals must be able to adapt and ride out whatever wave or obstacle comes around.
Berlant uses the term cruel optimism to refer to our our investments in “compromised conditions of possibility whose realization is discovered to be impossible, sheer fantasy.” (i.e., we keep cheering for a team we know will lose; we maintain hope in an unattainable romantic ideal promulgated by Hollywood or pursue happiness based on unrealistic beauty standards; we engage in small acts of environmental stewardship like recycling or buying a hybrid in the face of potentially unstoppable climate change...) Berlant basically means that the thing we seek to achieve, the thing (or state of being) that we desire (or the act of seeking and desiring itself) might actually threaten our well-being (that's what makes it cruel!). As she put it succinctly, “a relation of cruel optimism exists when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing.”
This relates to entrepreneurialism in so many ways: Engaging in the gig economy or a side-hustle as a way to increase one's income (or security) in uncertain times is cruel and optimistic. Similarly, we encounter aspirational labour in the form of internships or any form of unpaid labour while looking for a "real" job. Perhaps you feel the pressure of cultivating a sense of employability. According to Frayne (2015), today, students are expected “to improve their prospects by training, acquiring educational credentials, networking, learning how to project the right kind of personality, and gaining life experiences that match up with the values sought by employers.” In other words, they have to act entrepreneurially even to get a non-entrepreneurial job. As Hawzen et al. (2018) assert, this incites anxiety and results in a colonization of one’s entire life by work-related demands as students feel the need to separate themselves from the competition, doing things like volunteering to gain an advantage or to get a "foot in the door"... We also see it to a certain extent in the example of entrepreneurial vloggers in the sense that the fantasy of a “good life” through fame and fortune is rarely realized. The cruel conditions of precocity are, for most, more of a reality than the fantasy... and we take up this theme explicitly in two weeks hence with digital 'autopreneurs'
Overall, this also highlights one of the reasons I chose this article -- rather than just highlighting how entrepreneurs are certain types of people (or motivated by certain types of things), it emphasizes how entrepreneurship is a mental orientation, not just a business concept but a way of living. But it's not all sunshine and happiness. Cruel optimism, indeed!
What about you? Are you familiar with the feeling of 'cruel optimism'? Does it define the current times or your current disposition?
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what has changed is the status of the entrepreneur,
fascinating stuff -- also foreshadowing the 2nd last week in the course when we talk not just about the mental health (and happiness) of entrepreneurs, but emphasize how an entrepreneurial attitude may not be the secret to the meaning of life but can help give life meaning... money isn't everything...
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thought to exist outside of the sphere of business and labor, such as artistic and cultural production, have been colonized by discourses of entrepreneur-ship
Can you relate this to your own experience or to news and information from beyond the reading? Can you find an example of this?
Please note - this is connected to a later question (can anyone be an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial). This is also an explicit foreshadowing of subsequent course content when we address cultural and creative entrepreneurship.
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Entrepreneurs are both dreamers and doers,
Elsewhere in the academic literature on entrepreneurship, this idea of mindset is defined more explicitly when it comes to asking the question, 'Why are some individuals able to identify and successfully act upon opportunities in uncertain environments while others are unable to do so?' In Entrepreneurial Cognition: Exploring the Mindset of Entrepreneurs, Shepherd and Patzelt argue the following:
An entrepreneurial mindset [is] the ability to rapidly sense, act, and mobilize, even under uncertain conditions. Such a notion implies the ability to both notice and adapt to uncertainty is a key skill. When conceptualizing the notion of an entrepreneurial mindset, Ireland et al. (2003) described cognitive tasks, such as interpreting opportunities as goal change, continually reflecting on and challenging one’s “dominant logic” in changing environments, and reconsidering “deceptively simple questions” about what one believes to be true. The cognitive tasks associated with an entrepreneurial mindset embody what we more generally call cognitive adaptability. Cognitive adaptability refers to the degree to which people are dynamic, flexible, self-regulating, and engaged in developing numerous decision frameworks aimed at sensing and processing environmental changes and then choosing from those various alternatives to successfully understand, plan, and implement an array of personal, social, and organizational objectives in a shifting world (120-121).
Whew! That was a mouthful. Fundamentally, though, this "mindset" is crucial to understanding the centrality and the power of entrepreneurship in contemporary society. If you have it, you're a "winner" and if you don't have it, you're consigned to a lesser fate, less likely to flourish in today's society, unable to grasp the opportunities that come your way or unwilling to put yourself in a position to make your own opportunities (or so the story goes).
What specific qualities do you think are associated with an entrepreneurial mindset and the capacity to both dream something and to do it, to make it happen! ...?
And where have you seen these trumpeted or underscored in your own experience?
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“Starting a company has become the way for ambitious young people to do something that seems simultaneously careerist and heroic
foreshadowing next week...
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enterprising citizens free to take up and solve any challenge outside the constraints of race, gender, sexuality, class, and his-tory.
Is it really the case that enterprising citizens are so powerful, such agents of change and emancipation? How straightforward is it to transcend one’s personal circumstances and systemic conditions and make your life better (much less, the world, a better place)? Is anyone free to do so (or more importantly, equally empowered to do so)? Obviously not. What then, does this say about entrepreneurial culture?
Is "enterprising citizen" a synonym for entrepreneur?
FYI -- this is a potentially interesting subject for a final paper if you're interested in addressing the question of systemic imbalances of power and opportunities when it comes to the intersection of race, gender and entrepreneurialism. Specific sub-populations experience entrepreneurialism differently...
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“ideology of micro-entrepreneurship” that sees the poor as creative entrepreneurs
discourse of social entrepreneurship (again)
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Even fields commonly
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the world is not replete with divisions of power and privilege that skew one’s opportunities within it, predetermining possibilities through a game of social and economic fate
this statement highlights the "can-do" attitude of the entrepreneurial subject. Szeman isn't describing reality, but the way that entrepreneurs see it and process it ...
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We can see this misrecognition of the lived realities of contemporary society
Szeman's point of view being ably emphasized...
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a better, more fulfilling world peopled by autopoetic microentrepreneurs
foreshadowing "social entrepreneurship"
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the sharing economy via companies like AirBnB, Uber, Lyft
what do you think of the idea of these operators as "micro-entrepreneurs"? Definitely not the same as "mom & pop" shops...
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entrepreneurship is a mindset
We will be dealing with this idea all semester long (as we talk about the traits/characteristics of entrepreneurs and the mentality of being entrepreneurial). Szeman's critical cultural studies approach highlights the "subjectivity" of entrepreneurs which is another way of saying the same thing...
What do you think about this? Is entrepreneurship less a mode of being/acting and more a mode of engaging with the world and seeing it through a certain lens?
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contemporary life is lived in increasingly difficult and precarious circum-stances
this notion of precariousness should be a recurring theme in the third week of the course too (when we put neoliberalism into greater focus)
But it also begs the question -- do you agree? And do you think entrepreneurialism is the solution to this problem or one of the root causes of it?
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In the entrepreneurial imaginary, we all start on equal footing.
What do you think of this?
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“everyone will have to become an entrepreneur”
Do you agree? Is this good or bad?
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not only are we all expected to be entrepreneurs today, we are all expected to like it; from the perspective of entrepreneurial common sense, there are no unhappy entrepreneurs.
This sentence foreshadows our later week on mental health (where we highlight happiness!)
But seriously -- Whoa! I think that this statement is (potentially) controversial and ought to be queried/challenged. Clearly, this is not true when it's taken at face-value; there are many unhappy entrepreneurs who have not realized the success they envisioned or who have not recovered from their previous ventures beset by mistakes and misfortunes (having failed to learn the lesson inherent in their failed venture).
What do you think of Szeman's statement?
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a space of unfettered possi-bility and excitement
entrepreneurial culture seems to be just this -- filled with perpetual promise, fuelled by your own attitude.
Do you find this encouraging or unrealistic?
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perhaps the common sense of entrepre-neurial success that I have been describing through much of this introduc-tion, with its belief in freedom to achieve on a level playing field that exists outside the constraining barriers of privilege, in fact occupies the most priv-ileged position of all
this statement should serve as ample evidence that Szeman isn't trumpeting entrepreneurialism as a beneficent force for equity. He's highlighting the very opposite!
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entrepreneurial individualism,
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entrepreneurial subjects embrace and even seek out failure as an important, even essential, dimension of their activ-ity
When he says this, he also foreshadows our subsequent week on grit and perseverance...
But definitely check out the memes -- I start out with this Beckett bit....
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For the entrepreneurial subject, failure might well be more important than success.
He's talking about the entrepreneurial mindset. We highlight this again in the week on "successful intelligence" later on.
For now, though, ask how is this possible? Do you agree?
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Entrepre-neurs have unrealistic ideas of success and unhealthy fantasies about the productivity and necessity of failure
What do you think about this statement? (Check out the memes that distill this into sound-byte culture...)
A student last year asked, "Is normalizing failure a way of conditioning people to never expect real success?" Yowza!
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Still, there is a kernel of political possibility, a hint of imaginative self-reliance and rejection of the status quo, in the desire to produce one’s own life, failure or no, against the dictates of class or origin, that speaks to political inventiveness and possibilities just over the horizon.
His final words lead us to conclude that amongst all the fear, the caution, and the critique, there is still some hope to be found, some inspiration to be taken from the philosophy and the psychology at the root of entrepreneurial culture. This is why entrepreneurialism is everywhere and why it is the subtext of so many self-help books and inspirational content online. The dream of a better tomorrow can motivate us to get past the trials and tribulations of today. Both bane and boon, entrepreneurial culture promises that our ability to transcend the mundane is entirely dependent upon our own efforts. This means we don't have to depend on anyone (or anything) else (such as governments or communities, or corporations) to generate happiness or success; we are entirely free agents, constructing our own future. This also means that we have no-one to blame but ourselves if that future turns out less rosy than we hoped...
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women accessing microfinance
foreshadowing the week on social entrepreneurship
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We have now all been given the freedom
He doesn't mean this as a good thing...
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The endless drive to exceed one’s capacities across hitherto distinct spheres of life activity
this is what I was referring to earlier ... gotta get more, be more, be fitter, healthier, happier, wealthier.
Is the "entrepreneurial self" a constant work-in-progress exemplifying the ethos of the Daft Punk song "harder, better, faster, stronger"? In fact, the lyrics have a definite Neo-liberal twist to them (something lost in the recycling of the song by Kanye West with his version, "Stronger"):
"Work it harder Make it better Do it faster Makes us stronger More than ever Hour after Our work is Never over
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Entrepreneurship would appear at first glance to exemplify such a mode of indirect control sans responsibility.
Yep - so much of entrepreneurship is Neo-liberalism writ large! You're in it for yourself because you can't count on anyone else (especially the state). Collective forms of entrepreneurship are the exception, rather than the rule (here I'm thinking in particular of indigenous versions...)
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The production of subjects responsible only for themselves
Clearly, Szeman is critical of our contemporary condition in which the figure of the entrepreneur is cast as the salve for all our problems yet also produces "subjects responsible only for themselves" We ought not be fooled into thinking Szeman is advocating for entrepreneurialism -- instead, he's alerting everyone to how it's a tsunami overtaking culture (and advocating that we stay alert to its potential dangers...)
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