IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v62y2024i2d10.1007_s11187-023-00774-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An anthropological perspective on contextualizing entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Michiel Verver

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Juliette Koning

    (School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University)

Abstract

This paper develops an anthropological perspective on contextualizing entrepreneurship. We argue that interconnectedness is the quintessence of such a perspective and takes the form of (1) sociocultural ties between people; (2) interrelationships between micro, meso, and macro levels; and (3) connections between the past and the present. We illustrate this perspective through our research among ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia, identifying three kinds of sociocultural ties among the ethnic Chinese (kinship, spiritual, and patron-client ties) and positioning these ties in the historical and contemporary experiences of Chinese migration, settlement, and business venturing. In doing so, we show that an anthropological perspective broadens the empirical scope (including developing countries, minority groups, and “everyday” entrepreneurship), the methodological scope (employing ethnographic methods), and the conceptual scope (considering sociocultural ties at the interpersonal level) of entrepreneurship research. The contribution lies in operationalizing and theorizing context: we operationalize context through interconnectedness – comprising our three forms as well as ethnographic methodology to examine these – and theorize interconnectedness by elaborating how entrepreneurs “do” context through enacting the sociocultural ties that “embody” this context, while considering the micro-meso-macro and past-present connections that have engendered these ties. Our anthropological perspective presents a fine-grained and holistic analytical framework for contextualizing entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Michiel Verver & Juliette Koning, 2024. "An anthropological perspective on contextualizing entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 649-665, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:62:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00774-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00774-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-023-00774-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-023-00774-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. J. Faas, 2018. "Petit capitalisms in disaster, or the limits of neoliberal imagination: Displacement, recovery, and opportunism in highland Ecuador," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 32-44, January.
    2. Chris Steyaert & Jerome Katz, 2004. "Reclaiming the space of entrepreneurship in society: geographical, discursive and social dimensions," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 179-196, May.
    3. Denise E. Fletcher, 2011. "A curiosity for contexts: Entrepreneurship, enactive research and autoethnography," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1-2), pages 65-76, January.
    4. Alex Stewart, 2003. "Help One Another, Use One Another: Toward an Anthropology of Family Business," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 383-396, October.
    5. Friederike Welter & Ted Baker & Katharine Wirsching, 2019. "Three waves and counting: the rising tide of contextualization in entrepreneurship research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 319-330, February.
    6. Vincent Joos, 2017. "Space, female economies, and autonomy in the shotgun neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, Haiti," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 37-49, January.
    7. Scott, James C., 1972. "Patron-Client Politics and Political Change in Southeast Asia," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 91-113, March.
    8. Ivan Light & Léo–Paul Dana, 2013. "Boundaries of Social Capital in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(3), pages 603-624, May.
    9. Hannah Jane Marshall, 2018. "“Once you support, you are supported†: Entrepreneurship and reintegration among ex†prisoners in Gulu, northern Uganda," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 71-82, January.
    10. Friederike Welter & Ted Baker, 2021. "Moving Contexts Onto New Roads: Clues From Other Disciplines," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1154-1175, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bojicic-Dzelilovic, Vesna & Kostovicova, Denisa & Causevic, Fikret, 2024. "Tested by the COVID-19 economic shock: peace-positive entrepreneurship and intergroup collaboration in post-conflict business recovery," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125561, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alterskye, Alex & Fuller, Ted & Caputo, Andrea, 2023. "Field dynamics as context – A multi-perspective combined analysis of the effects of context on entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    2. Amba Maria Erkelens & Neil Aaron Thompson & Dominic Chalmers, 2024. "The dynamic construction of an incubation context: a practice theory perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 583-605, February.
    3. Emilia Nercissians, 2019. "The historical anthropology of the seventeenth century entrepreneurial activities of the Armenian merchants in New Julfa," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. McKeever, Edward & Jack, Sarah & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Embedded entrepreneurship in the creative re-construction of place," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 50-65.
    5. Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh & Mirela Xheneti & Pekka Stenholm & Robert Blackburn & Friederike Welter & David Urbano, 2024. "The interplay of context and entrepreneurship: the new frontier for contextualisation research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 571-582, February.
    6. Galina Shirokova & Tatiana Beliaeva & Tatiana S. Manolova, 2023. "The Role of Context for Theory Development: Evidence From Entrepreneurship Research on Russia," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2384-2418, November.
    7. Wurth, Bernd & Mawson, Suzanne, 2024. "Beyond words: How visual imagery shapes collaborative sensemaking in entrepreneurial ecosystems," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    8. Reypens, Lina & Bacq, Sophie & Milanov, Hana, 2021. "Beyond bricolage: Early-stage technology venture resource mobilization in resource-scarce contexts," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    9. Alistair R. Anderson & Johan Gaddefors, 2016. "Entrepreneurship as a community phenomenon; reconnecting meanings and place," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 28(4), pages 504-518.
    10. Hartmann Carina & Philipp Ralf, 2022. "Lost in space? Refugee Entrepreneurship and Cultural Diversity in Spatial Contexts," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 66(3), pages 151-171, October.
    11. Funmi (Olufunmilola) Ojediran & Alistair Anderson, 2020. "Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Global South: Empowering and Emancipating?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, November.
    12. Pablo Muñoz & Jonathan Kimmitt & Ben Spigel, 2024. "Trans-contextual work: doing entrepreneurial contexts in the periphery," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 607-628, February.
    13. Katharina Scheidgen & Anna Brattström, 2023. "Berlin is Hotter Than Silicon Valley! How Networking Temperature Shapes Entrepreneurs’ Networking Across Social Contexts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2233-2262, November.
    14. Paschke, Max & Müller, Anna, 2020. "Contextualization of entrepreneurship research: Methodologies of the trend," Working Papers 05/20, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    15. Tobias Kollmann & Simon Hensellek & Philipp Benedikt Jung & Katharina de Cruppe, 2023. "How bricoleurs go international: a European cross-country study considering the moderating role of governmental entrepreneurship support programs," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1126-1159, June.
    16. Nick Williams & Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki & Besnik A. Krasniqi, 2023. "When Forced Migrants Go Home: The Journey of Returnee Entrepreneurs in the Post-conflict Economies of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 430-460, March.
    17. Chu, Irene & Vu, Mai & Adomako, Samuel & Lanivich, Stephen E., 2024. "Human flourishing from eudaimonic balance of values in entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Koehne, Florian & Woodward, Richard & Honig, Benson, 2022. "The potentials and perils of prosocial power: Transnational social entrepreneurship dynamics in vulnerable places," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4).
    19. Ilhan-Nas, Tulay & Okan, Tarhan & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Demirbag, Mehmet & Wood, Geoffrey & Glaister, Keith W., 2018. "Board composition, family ownership, institutional distance and the foreign equity ownership strategies of Turkish MNEs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 862-879.
    20. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anthropology; Interconnectedness; Kinship; Spirituality; Patronage; Ethnic Chinese entrepreneurship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • N45 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:62:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00774-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.