Constructing and de-constructing entrepreneurial enclaves : a Deleuzian take on regional mobilization

• IntroductionThis paper is based on ongoing interactive research on entrepreneurial enclaves in southern Sweden aimed at promoting regional development through interaction between local stakeholders, academics and undergraduate students. The enclave concept has been used in previous research, also in entrepreneurship, but then primarily when dealing with networking and self-employment among ethnic minority groups. (Butler & Wilson, 1990; Andersson & Hammarstedt, 2012) Here we draw on the work of Deleuze & Guttari (1980) by asking what the effects of introducing the enclave concept in a regional community are, rather than trying to identify or pinpoint what an entrepreneurial enclave is as such. Thus, the purpose of our paper is to gain increased understanding regarding the productiveness of the enclave concept.Research designThe project began with topics considered important by local stakeholders, as identified during role-play based semi-focused groups (Bill & Olaison, 2009), and then this was translated these into a number of projects which students supervised by academic researchers try to realize together with local stakeholders. Semi-focused groups are a method founded on pragmatism and intended to place the respondents in a fictive but still familiar situation by giving them a task and roles close to their everyday experience. The intention is to gain understanding not only regarding how they would talk about something, but also how they would act in a certain situation. (Putnam, 1995; Bill et al., 2009)Preliminary findingsWhen dealing with entrepreneurial regions, previous research has generally tried to identify them and then sought to create some sort of template for recreating them elsewhere. However, it would be naïve to believe that this attention will not in itself influence the behavior of the residents in the region. The border between observer and observed therefore starts to dissipate.The basis for our research is that we are initially, simply by declaring them, creating the entrepreneurial enclaves that we subsequently study. Furthermore, simultaneously we are also creating a number of non-entrepreneurial enclaves in the region simply by not pinpointing or highlighting them. In our empirical work consisting of semi-focused groups and continuous interaction with local stakeholders this has become especially visible on a number of occasions. In the paper we present three cases where the existence of our project has influenced the way the local stakeholders consider themselves and their region. These are: I) The medieval church, a battle of belonging. II) Expectations of the Other - or not saying no to developing the Lake of the Fox. III) Voices of the recent, participating to participate.ConclusionsThe conclusions from this project are that the acts of creating and identifying entrepreneurial enclaves are overlapping and intertwined, that the entrepreneurial enclave is amorphous in the sense that its spatial/social limitations fluctuates and that the region is often

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

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Företagsekonomi

Business administration

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