Pascal Dey and Chris Steyaert provide a timely critique on the idea of social entrepreneurship and its reputation as a means for positive social change. The book uses different traditions and modes of critique to interrogate, disrupt and reimagine the concept of social entrepreneurship. Presented in five parts, each individual contribution uses a different critical perspective to analyse and assess social entrepreneurship in its mythological, ideological and performative constitution, looking for its democratic possibilities and alternative affirmations. Using varied analytical approaches, the resulting work highlights the need for a greater recognition of the unintended effects of social entrepreneurship and in doing so, adds nuance to a concept that has gone relatively unchallenged. In addition, each chapter identifies intriguing points for further research. Scholars in the fields of social entrepreneurship, management and organizational studies will find this a relevant and insightful work. Those with a wider scholarly interest in critical research, particularly in the humanities or social sciences, will also find the critical approaches compelling. Contributors: K. Berglund, M.B. Calas, J. Cameron, R. Dart, P. Dey, A.M. Eikenberry, S. Ergene, V.J. Friedman, D.M. Horn, J.A. Kerlin, F. Lyon, C. Mason, S. Mauksch, M. Moran, R. Owen (Baldock), L. Perren, T.H. Pollak, T. Ruebottom, P. Seanor, L. Smircich, C. Steyaert, M. Strauch, I. Sykes, S. Teasdale

Entrepreneurship is largely considered to be a positive force, driving venture creation and economic growth. Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship questions the accepted norms and dominant assumptions of scholarship on the matter, and reveals how they can actually obscure important questions of identity, ideology and inequality. The book's distinguished authors and editors explore how entrepreneurship study can privilege certain forms of economic action, whilst labelling other, more collective forms of organization and exchange as problematic. Demystifying the archetypal vision of the white, male entrepreneur, this book gives voice to other entrepreneurial subjectivities and engages with the tensions, paradoxes and ambiguities at the heart of the topic. This challenging collection seeks to further the momentum for alternate analyses of the field, and to promote the growing voice of critical entrepreneurship studies. It is a useful tool for researchers, advanced students and policy-makers.

Pascal Dey and Chris Steyaert provide a timely critique on the idea of social entrepreneurship and its reputation as a means for positive social change. The book uses different traditions and modes of critique to interrogate, disrupt and reimagine the concept of social entrepreneurship. Presented in five parts, each individual contribution uses a different critical perspective to analyse and assess social entrepreneurship in its mythological, ideological and performative constitution, looking for its democratic possibilities and alternative affirmations. Using varied analytical approaches, the resulting work highlights the need for a greater recognition of the unintended effects of social entrepreneurship and in doing so, adds nuance to a concept that has gone relatively unchallenged. In addition, each chapter identifies intriguing points for further research. Scholars in the fields of social entrepreneurship, management and organizational studies will find this a relevant and insightful work. Those with a wider scholarly interest in critical research, particularly in the humanities or social sciences, will also find the critical approaches compelling. Contributors: K. Berglund, M.B. Calas, J. Cameron, R. Dart, P. Dey, A.M. Eikenberry, S. Ergene, V.J. Friedman, D.M. Horn, J.A. Kerlin, F. Lyon, C. Mason, S. Mauksch, M. Moran, R. Owen (Baldock), L. Perren, T.H. Pollak, T. Ruebottom, P. Seanor, L. Smircich, C. Steyaert, M. Strauch, I. Sykes, S. Teasdale

Entrepreneurship is largely considered to be a positive force, driving venture creation and economic growth. Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship questions the accepted norms and dominant assumptions of scholarship on the matter, and reveals how they can actually obscure important questions of identity, ideology and inequality. The book's distinguished authors and editors explore how entrepreneurship study can privilege certain forms of economic action, whilst labelling other, more collective forms of organization and exchange as problematic. Demystifying the archetypal vision of the white, male entrepreneur, this book gives voice to other entrepreneurial subjectivities and engages with the tensions, paradoxes and ambiguities at the heart of the topic. This challenging collection seeks to further the momentum for alternate analyses of the field, and to promote the growing voice of critical entrepreneurship studies. It is a useful tool for researchers, advanced students and policy-makers.