Indigenous entrepreneurial capital: a grounded theory study
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Date
2021
Authors
Sharpe, Jeremiah Arno
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Abstract
Rationale:
Economic development among Canada’s Indigenous peoples is considered an essential part of reconciliation, evidenced by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Call to Action 92. A key driver of economic development is entrepreneurial venturing, and yet an understanding of Indigenous entrepreneurship has yet to be clarified. Knowledge of how Indigenous practitioners’ view their participation in these activities is beneficial for scholars to understand the sector, and beneficial to practitioners being part of the conversation. Parameters, regulatory, social, or otherwise, should be informed by Indigenous views if Call to Action 92 is to be respected.
Aim
To explore Indigenous participants’ viewpoints on their participation in entrepreneurship and how they define their activities in comparison to academic definitions.
Outputs and conclusions
Ten case studies were developed, covering a range of entrepreneurs and their activities. Topics for these case studies were derived from priorities described by participants which enhanced and informed the resulting model. The model emerged from application of grounded theory processes within the context of Two-Eyed Seeing, an Indigenous research approach that balanced western and Indigenous perspectives. The model, generated from the practitioners’ viewpoints on defining Indigenous entrepreneurship, revolved around the core category of engaging with entrepreneurial capital, which itself was derived from four subcategories: social capital, cultural capital, human capital, and financial/economic capital. This model interpreted participant efforts to define Indigenous entrepreneurship (IE) and led to the tentative definition drawn from participant worldviews of IE as Indigenous entrepreneurship is defined as an holistic process intertwining identity, experiences, and multiple bottom lines, reflected in how practitioners engage with entrepreneurial capital that sees the journey as being as important as the goals.
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Keywords
Indigenous entrepreneurship, Manitoba entrepreneurship, Indigenous economies, Entrepreneurial capital, Indigenous capital