Fraternity, legitimacy and (his)story: the collective presentation of entrepreneur stories as excess.

Warren, Lorraine; Smith, Robert

Abstract

This paper is about an entrepreneurial fraternity and its role in reworking and reframing entrepreneurial excess. We achieve this through considering the historical presentation of the entrepreneur as an isolated individual, a maverick, can be mediated through the adoption of historical modes of organisation that have been appropriated to provide conformity, legitimacy and a sense of belonging. To achieve the purpose of our paper we examine the website of the Memphis based society of entrepreneurs (http://www.societyofentrepreneurs.com). Through deconstruction of the website, we show how the conservativeness of the stories presented may play a key role in creating a entrepreneurial identity that counters the rebellious and recklessness of the young turks. We suggest that while these modes of organisation may initially seek to curb entrepreneurial excess, in time, they have the potential to be abused, and thus, in themselves, become a form of excess.

Citation

WARREN, L. and SMITH, R. 2009. Fraternity, legitimacy and (his)story: the collective presentation of entrepreneur stories as excess. Tamara journal for critical organization inquiry [online], 8(1), pages 48-58. Available from: http://tamarajournal.com/index.php/tamara/article/view/313

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 30, 2009
• Online Publication Date: Sep 30, 2009
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2009
• Deposit Date: May 4, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: May 4, 2010
• Journal: Tamara: journal for critical organization inquiry
• Print ISSN: 1532-5555
• Electronic ISSN: 1532-5555
• Publisher: Tamara
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 48-58
• Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial identity; Entrepreneurial excess
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/486
• Publisher URL: http://tamarajournal.com/index.php/tamara/article/view/313
• Contract Date: May 4, 2010