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The politics of narrating social entrepreneurship
Journal
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN
1750-6204
ISSN-Digital
1750-6212
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2010-04-07
Author(s)
Abstract
Responding to recent pleas both to critically analyze and to conceptually advance social entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the political "unconscious" operates in the narration of social entrepreneurship and how it poses a limit to alternative forms of thinking and talking. Design/methodology/approach - To move the field beyond a predominantly monological way of narrating, various genres of narrating social entrepreneurship are identified, critically discussed and illustrated against the backdrop of development aid. Findings - The paper identifies and distinguishes between a grand narrative that incorporates a messianistic script of harmonious social change, counter-narratives that render visible the intertextual relations that interpellate the grand narration of social entrepreneurship and little narratives that probe novel territories by investigating the paradoxes and ambivalences of the social. Practical implications - The paper suggests a minor understanding and non-heroic practice of social entrepreneurship guided by the idea of "messianism without a messiah." Originality/value - The paper suggests critical reflexivity as a way to analyze and multiply the circulating narrations of social entrepreneurship. .
Language
English
Keywords
Entrepreneurialism
Narratives
Social change
Societal organization
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Emerald Group
Publisher place
Bradford UK
Volume
4
Number
1
Start page
85
End page
108
Pages
24
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
61556