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The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation· 2026Q2

Heroism as cultural ferment: Reframing entrepreneurial agency in the polycrisis

Lauri Laine, Ewald Kibler

Short summary

This paper reframes entrepreneurial agency by conceptualizing heroism not as a fixed trope, but as 'cultural ferment' that animates individual transformative capacities, offering a counterpoint to dominant anti-heroic views.

AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.

Key points

  • Re-centers heroic entrepreneurial agency by foregrounding heroism as cultural ferment.
  • Challenges the dominant view of heroism as an ideologically determined trope.
  • Argues that heroic entrepreneurial agents can carry light in dark times.
  • Contrasts with previous critical literature that largely adopted an anti-heroic vision of entrepreneurship.

AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.

Abstract

This research note re-centers heroic entrepreneurial agency by foregrounding heroism as cultural ferment. Previous critical literature has largely converged on an anti-heroic vision of entrepreneurship, thereby downplaying individuals’ capacity for agency. Yet it is precisely through the transformative capacities of individuals that entrepreneurial agency becomes socially meaningful. We offer a fresh account of heroism as the cultural ferment that animates entrepreneurial agency. Encouraged by the ‘postcritique’ in contemporary philosophy, we challenge the dominant view of heroism as an ideologically determined trope and argue that heroic entrepreneurial agents can carry light in dark times.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2026 · DOI ↗

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Field: Social Psychology

Social PsychologyPsychology