Freedom’s Frictions: Entrepreneurial Imaginaries as Political Theory

Hannah Knox Tucker, Daniel Wadhwani

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Abstract

While shifts in entrepreneurial venturing have often been seen as the work of visionaries or uncontrollable market forces, we propose that these changes stem in part from an evolving political theory of legitimate venturing. Building on the political philosophy of Isaiah Berlin and Charles Taylor, we introduce the construct of "entrepreneurial imaginaries" as collective moral judgments of forms of entrepreneurial organization that are considered threats or aids to mutual freedom. We theorize that forms of entrepreneurial organization that were once understood as expressions of freedom are reinterpreted as threats to freedom as they grow dominant. The result is a dialectical political theory of entrepreneurial capitalism. Using evidence from the past 250 years, we identify three periods of American entrepreneurial organizing around conflictual business models that produced frictions in the exercise of freedom. We then show how these freedoms' frictions produced contestation that a new entrepreneurial form resolved for a time before frictions emerged anew. Finally, we draw out the implications for interpretations of entrepreneurial capitalism today.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the Eighty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
EditorsSonia Taneja
Number of pages1
Place of PublicationValhalla, NY
PublisherAcademy of Management
Publication date2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
EventThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024: Innovating for the Future: Policy, Purpose, and Organizations - Chicago, United States
Duration: 9 Aug 202413 Aug 2024
Conference number: 84
https://aom2024.eventscribe.net/

Conference

ConferenceThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024
Number84
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago
Period09/08/202413/08/2024
Internet address
SeriesAcademy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings
ISSN0065-0668

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