Work at the Margins: A Conceptual Exploration of the Entrepreneurial Hustle

Entrepreneurs are hustlers. The notion of individuals hustling to reach their goals and the contemporary phenomenon of the “hustle culture” have permeated entrepreneurship rhetoric. In this article, we explore the challenges that come with appropriating hustle for research without reflecting on its roots in everyday language. Employing conceptual history methodology, we trace the evolving meanings of hustle in the twentieth-century United States, demonstrating how hustle describes a type of work ‘at the margins’ of formal employment. We find that the conventional portrayal of hustle as urgent individual action overlooks its reliance on the fluid boundaries of what is perceived as mainstream work. These boundaries have been repeatedly reconfigured by changing societal contexts or purposeful alteration through what we call margin manipulation. Our analysis advocates for a better understanding of the historical trajectory of entrepreneurial concepts, which enables more incisive critiques of entrepreneurship culture and ideology.