The tech entrepreneur in Colombia: a discussion of actor-network-theory, Lacanian theory and social imaginaries

Abstract

The figure of the tech entrepreneur has gained special relevance in the contemporary world. Recognized stories of success such as those of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have popularized worldwide the imagination of the young student who starts a garage company with nothing more than his own passion, intelligence and determination, and becomes a global celebrity and a billionaire in just a few years. Nevertheless, the discourses and cultural productions that shape this figure do not always adhere to empirical consequences and factual data, but in fact, are the result of some processes determined by the desires and dreams of those who construct and transmit it (entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship gurus and experts, advertisers, government agencies, etc.), as well as those who consume it (young people with entrepreneurial aspirations). In this process of analyzing the “material/empiric” dimension of the figure of the tech entrepreneur in contrast with the “symbolic/imaginary” dimension, this article proposes a theoretical discussion between the Actor-Network-Theory, the Lacanian psychoanalysis and the Social Imaginaries theory. Based on the work by Lacan, Latour and Taylor and recurring to interviews applied to tech entrepreneurs in Colombia in different stages of development, it is concluded that the symbolic/imaginary dimension plays a fundamental role in structuring the contemporary figure of the tech entrepreneur with important implications at the level of the material/empirical reality, insofar as it shapes actions and objects. Thus, the Lacanian theory and the Social Imaginaries constitute two fundamental frameworks of analysis that contribute to understanding more comprehensively how the tech sector works as well as what sort of technological objects are created.

Ordinary entrepreneurial psychosis

“…These interviews were conducted in Spanish by Sebastian Santisteban and were subsequently transcribed and coded for thematic analysis. This sequence of research follows from previous research that included interviews of 144 entrepreneurs in Bogotá (Santisteban, 2018a, 2018b, 2019). As with that earlier research, the study reported here was informed by Lacanian theory and therefore paid particular attention to the dynamics of the signifier.…”

“…The reading of entrepreneurship proposed here is only possible because of our individual and shared readings of the works of Jacques Lacan, who has been crucial for us in fundamentally rethinking the place and function of entrepreneurship discourse. Concepts originally developed by Lacan have been applied with considerable success in the understanding of entrepreneurship (Dashtipour and Rumens, 2018; Driver, 2017; Jones and Spicer, 2005; Kenny et al, 2020; Santisteban, 2019) and in a surprisingly wide range of areas in management and organisation studies more generally (for commentary and critique see Arnaud, 2012; Arnaud and Vanheule, 2013; Arnaud and Vidaillet, 2018; Cederström, 2009; Cederström and Hoedemaekers, 2010; Contu, 2020; Contu et al, 2010; Kenny, 2020; Pedersen and Kristensen, 2019). We seek to establish here that critical studies of entrepreneurship in general and Lacanian studies of entrepreneurship in particular will benefit from much further and deeper engagement with the realities of capitalism.…”