When Teaching Entrepreneurship and Innovation Encounters the Rejection of the Avatars of Neoliberalism: Contributions and Limitations of Performative Epistemologies[Quand l'enseignement en entrepreneuriat et en innovation se confronte au rejet des avatars du néo-libéralisme : apports et limites des épistémologies performatives]

The primary venue for the dissemination of academic knowledge remains overwhelmingly the classroom; however, the teaching of certain subjects may be subject to critical questioning – or even militant rejection – by students, thereby signalling a certain democratic vitality. In our case, this concerned a teaching module on innovation and entrepreneurship for ecological and solidarity-based transition. These refreshing challenges invite us to take these criticisms seriously and to search for the reasons behind these rejections in the content of the questioned teachings. In this essay, we specifically explore how the adoption of a performative epistemology might guide our ethical reflection as educators. It seems to us that teaching in innovation management and entrepreneurship constitutes an interesting case study, insofar as it raises a singular paradox: these subjects inherently carry the project of social evolution, if not transformation; yet, in doing so, they frequently draw their ontologies from other social science disciplines, particularly economics, whose systems of representation are often criticised. These teachings are now facing the growing politicisation and activism of young people in relation to climate issues and the questioning of an economic system they consider harmful to the planet.