The Action of Faces and Spaces : An Interactionist Perspective on the Performance of a Lifestyle Enterprise

• Taking a performance perspective of entrepreneurship as the point of departure, the social action of entrepreneurship is examined through an interactionist lens. In particular, it applies the micro-sociology of interactionism of Erving Goffman as expounded in his seminal essays ‘On Face-Work’ and ‘The Nature of Deference and Demeanour’. The paper explores entrepreneurship through a case study of a lifestyle enterprise in Southern Sweden. By applying the micro-sociology of Goffman’s “Interaction Ritual” it is possible to learn a great deal about social life of lifestyle entrepreneurship. Specifically, when viewing case enterprise through Goffman’s frame, it is possible to see how the actors enact the enterprise, creating the social reality of the enterprise moment-by-moment in performance, in and through social interaction. The actors are seen to move from “frontstage” to “backstage” crossing boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’ spanning realms of ‘family’, ‘home’, ‘leisure’ and ‘work’. In the process, they express and commodify values and navigate boundaries of ‘self’, reflected in the expression of public identity of Goffman’s “face”. They present as multifaceted actors, able to take different lines and enact different “faces” not only between situations, but within them as well.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

tourism entrepreneurship

entrepreneurs

interactionism

sweden

Goffman

lifestyle entrepreneurs

lifestyle entrepreneurship

tourism entrepreneurship

Publikations- och innehållstyp

kon (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)