Against Entrepreneurship: Unveiling Social Inequalities for Minority Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The chapter explores the ontological differences between normative assumptions of entrepreneurship which place emphasis on economic growth, wealth, prosperity and militate against inequalities, and against entrepreneurship which challenges orthodox perspectives by drawing attention to political, structural and social inequalities of entrepreneurship. We argue against entrepreneurship based on neoliberalism ideals which focus on agency, free markets, and venture creation as mechanisms for individuals to attain economic wealth. In contrast we challenge the positive rhetoric on entrepreneurship, and the merits of policy initiatives encouraging entrepreneurship as a career of choice against a backdrop of structural and economic discrimination. For minority entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship offers an inherently precarious living, deconstructing the overly positive portrayal of entrepreneurship illuminates a multitude of barriers which are counter to the enabling claims of neoliberalism.