Never social and entrepreneurial enough? Exploring the identity work of social entrepreneurs from a psychoanalytic perspective

Abstract

Building on an analysis of interviews with 61 social entrepreneurs, the study offers a more fine-grained exploration of the identity work of social entrepreneurs from a psychoanalytic, particularly Lacanian, perspective. Specifically, it suggests that what defines social entrepreneurial identity work is the blurring of beatific and horrific aspects of fantasies and a desire for struggle and lack. This in turn creates an emancipatory space in which discursive movement enables alternative forms of market enjoyment and ethical agency. The latter unsettles macro-discourses of capitalism by demanding and amplifying their lack. The study contributes new avenues for exploring Lacanian concepts such as the traversal of fantasy as a product of discursive movement particularly relevant for transformative readings of identity narratives.

Drama and Discounting in the Relational Dynamics of Corporate Social Responsibility

“…Participants were asked open questions about their current activities, who they work with, and the outcomes of their work. We encouraged participants to tell stories that were important to them (Driver 2017), prompting them with questions such as, 'Tell me about your organization and your work', 'Tell me who you work with', 'Tell me more about CSR projects and their outcomes'.…”

“…Such individuals cling to discourses such as marketisation, or entrepreneurship despite evidence that they fail, because such a belief allows for ongoing heroic attempts to make things work. Social entrepreneurs come to imagine others as in need of their help, and themselves as only able to help through commercial approaches (Driver 2017). By recognising the perpetuation of a comforting fantasy, psychoanalytic frames therefore enable interpretations that do not require a resolution of contradictions between social responsibility and commercial imperatives, and don't insist that those involved must be cynical.…”

Meaning in Mentoring: More Than Meets the Eye/“I”

“…The psychodynamic tradition enables understanding of such unconscious facets of identity and is a useful supplement to the discursive identity tradition. Within the psychodynamic tradition, facets of Lacan's extensive corpus of work (e.g., Lacan & Fink, 2002), and, particularly, Driver's (2009aDriver's ( , 2009bDriver's ( , 2017Driver's ( , 2018 interpretations of Lacan's work, provide a basis for understanding mentoring relationships in terms of identity-work.…”

Organizational form and pro-social fantasy in social enterprise creation

“…How to achieve simultaneously commercial and social missions is a significant source of tension (Pache and Santos, 2013), particularly at the early stages of social enterprise (SE) creation. Diverse perspectives ranging from psychoanalysis (Driver, 2017) to paradox theory (Smith et al, 2010) have been used to explore how such tensions are managed, reconciled or overcome in social entrepreneurship (Battilana and Dorado, 2010; Doherty et al, 2014; Pache and Santos, 2013). Questions remain, however, concerning why and how social entrepreneurs persevere with SE creation despite the inherent challenges.…”

“…We employ a psychoanalytic approach to SE creation (Froggett and Chamberlayne, 2004), specifically the Lacanian concept of fantasy (Driver, 2017). In contrast to other theories that see fantasy as illusion of impossible reality, for Lacan fantasy is a fundamental part of how subjects and social projects are mutually constituted (Arnaud and Vidaillet, 2017; Fotaki, 2010; Vince, 2018).…”