Activist entrepreneurship for a sustainable future: an integrative framework

Abstract

With the growth of activism in our societies, research has begun to explore the possible links between activism and entrepreneurship. Three main streams of research - social entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship, and sustainable entrepreneurship - have already approached the links between activism and entrepreneurship. Reinterpreting an emblematic case from each research stream through an activist lens allows us to identify previously untheorized elements. The result is an integrative framework for the phenomenon of activist entrepreneurship organized around three main components: 1) cause advocacy; 2) community generation; 3) boundless action. The framework provides a common reading grid for all phenomena combining activism and entrepreneurship.

RÉSUMÉ

Avec le développement de l’activisme dans nos sociétés, la recherche a commencé à explorer les liens existants entre l’activisme et l’entrepreneuriat. Trois courants de recherche majeurs - entrepreneuriat social, entrepreneuriat institutionnel et entrepreneuriat durable - ont déjà approché ces liens. La réinterprétation d’un cas emblématique de chacun de ces courants de recherche dans une perspective purement activiste nous permet d’identifier des éléments qui n’avaient pas été théorisés auparavant. Un cadre intégratif du phénomène de l’entrepreneuriat activiste en découle; il s’articule autour de trois composantes principales: 1) défense d’une cause; 2) création d’une communauté; 3) action sans frontière. Ce cadre fournit une grille de lecture commune pour tous les phénomènes combinant l’activisme et l’entrepreneuriat.

Keywords:

• activism
• activist entrepreneurship
• social entrepreneurship
• institutional entrepreneurship
• sustainable entrepreneurship

MOTS-CLÉS:

• activisme
• entrepreneuriat activiste
• entrepreneuriat social
• entrepreneuriat institutionnel
• entrepreneuriat durable

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Giulia Monteverde

Giulia Monteverde is Ph.D. Student in Management and Marketing at the Department of Economics of the University of Perugia (Italy). Her research interests revolve around entrepreneurship, network relationships, sustainability, and consumer communities, with a particular emphasis on the fashion industry.

Andrea Runfola

Andrea Runfola is Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at the Department of Economics of the University of Perugia (Italy). His research interests include business models, internationalization, luxury management, and digitalization, with a focus, although not exclusive, on the fashion industry.

Bernard Cova

Bernard Cova is Senior Professor of Marketing at Kedge Business School in Marseille (France) and Visiting Professor at the Bocconi University in Milan (Italy). Since the early 1990s, he has participated in cultural streams of consumer research and marketing, focusing on a community approach; he is also a B-to-B marketing researcher, primarily in the field of project and solution marketing.