Overlooking The Not-So-Routine? An Analysis of Everyday Ingenuity in the Social Entrepreneurship Research

Abstract

This study used qualitative discourse analysis to explore how researchers use the concept of ingenuity to understand the everyday work of social entrepreneurs. Data were drawn from a sample of 69 research articles published across 41 academic journals between 1998 and 2018. The findings showed ingenuity to be an underdeveloped concept in the social entrepreneurship literature and revealed a paucity of research on the everyday work performed by social entrepreneurs. A framework for studying the work of social entrepreneurs at the “scale of the everyday” through the lens of ingenuity is proposed, and recommendations for future research are provided.

Citation

Mars, M.M. (2022), "Overlooking The Not-So-Routine? An Analysis of Everyday Ingenuity in the Social Entrepreneurship Research", Mars, M.M. and Schau, H.J. (Ed.) How Alternative is Alternative? The Role of Entrepreneurial Development, Form, and Function in the Emergence of Alternative Marketscapes (Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth, Vol. 29), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 81-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1048-473620220000029004