Regional Development by Means of Broadened Entrepreneurship

Anders W. Johansson

European Planning Studies, 2009, vol. 17, issue 8, 1205-1222

Abstract: Today entrepreneurship does not constitute one grand narrative, rather it consists of a plurality of sub-discourses, some of them in sharp contrast to others. In academic texts as well as in practice, we find both dominant and broader meanings of entrepreneurship. It is discussed in this article how a dominant meaning of entrepreneurship historically can be associated with industrialization, large firms, hero entrepreneurs and ideas of “bürgerlichen Gesellschaft”. As we now live in a society where large manufacturing firms no longer dominate, broader conceptions of entrepreneurship emerges, allowing for the idea of an entrepreneurial potential of ordinary (wo)men. This article gives glimpses of how a broad entrepreneurship is enacted in a regional context. These glimpses illustrate the following. 1. Networks which give plenty of room for spontaneous interaction can mobilize entrepreneurial identities. 2. Individuals provide role models for how “Gesellschaft” can be resisted and balanced by “Gemeinschaft” in the society of today 3. The core of entrepreneurship does not need to be thought of in terms of an exclusive capacity for innovation but rather as something which is an outflow of ordinary life when not restricted by discourse. Adopting a broad view of entrepreneurship implies for policy-makers to encourage the mobilization of entrepreneurship instead of trying to “pick the winners”.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1080/09654310902981060

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