Track 6: Entrepreneurship - a key to sustainable development?
Chaired by Erik Lindhult (erik.lindhult@mdh.se) and Anders W Johansson (anders.w.johansson@mdh.se), Mälardalen University, Sweden, Bengt Johannisson (bengt.johannisson@vxu.se), Växjö University, Sweden and Robert B Anderson (Robert.Anderson@uregina.ca), University of Regina, Canada
There is a tension between dominant discourses of entrepreneurship rooted in neoliberal ideologies and sustainable development. We see the powers
of globalisation and regionalisation at work simultaneously. The balancing of these powers is crucial to the long-term development and sustainability
of the society. At the same time sustainability as a vision of an alternative society and a source for opportunities for value creation requires the
release and mobilization of entrepreneurial forces in a plurality of forms. In this sense entrepreneurship is a key to a sustainable society.
In order to mobilise entrepreneurial sources and forces for sustainable development, we believe there is as need to widen the discourses and practices
of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship in a traditional and narrow perspective tends to strengthen existing structures leading to further urbanisation and
segregation. If not balanced up this perspective not only leads to greater concentration of wealth but also sometimes foster impoverishment of local
societies (dis-entrepreneurship). This track therefore focuses on the emerging broader perspective on entrepreneurship where attention is given to value
driven entrepreneurship in the mediation between business and community, at the intersection of economy, public processes and nature. We believe that such
broader perspectives often require a greater emphasis on local communities and the empowerment of discriminated and marginalised regions,
groups and individuals.
Entrepreneurship in this broader meaning has led to the emergence of a number of entrepreneurship sub-themes such as:
- Social/public entrepreneurship
- Community entrepreneurship
- Collective entrepreneurship, e.g. in the form of broad partnerships, networks or social movements
- Indigenous entrepreneurship
- Women entrepreneurship
- Ethnic entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship, learning and education
We welcome papers that refer to these sub-themes and similar aspects of entrepreneurship where the significance of entrepreneurship in the development
of a sustainable society is explicitly discussed. The track also invites researchers to merge the research traditions of entrepreneurship and sustainable
development theoretically, ideologically and in terms of practical approaches.
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