This book offers a critique of social justice theory and its impact on entrepreneurship scholarship. It traces its deep roots in postmodernism by positioning entrepreneurship within these new intellectual, social, and economic environments. It highlights current philosophical assumptions, with implications for boundary conditions that we apply as scientists. Science depends on theoretical assumptions and boundary conditions. Unfortunately, a glaring weakness in entrepreneurship research has been its general failure to identify these premises. No theory is universally applicable, so its assumptions and boundary conditions are what give it analytical power. Where do they come from? Simply stated, they come from a theory's philosophy of science. However, even more rare than stating assumptions and boundary conditions is to discuss a study's governing philosophy. In fact, no known research published in entrepreneurship has discussed a study's philosophical orientation. This provocative work details postmodern concerns related to critical theory, their origins, their status, and specifically how they impact entrepreneurship and those who are not designated as either the victimized or part of the white patriarchy. It will challenge the current direction of entrepreneurship research and confront the general acceptance of the tenets of postmodernism among management scholars.
Author(s): James O. Fiet
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 328
City: London
Acknowledgments
Prologue
References
Contents
1 Social Justice Theory as a Disorganized Religion
Attributional Origins
The Institutionalization of Beliefs into Knowledge
A Postmodern Turn Toward Intersectionalism and Activism
Social Justice Cosmology
Boxed Summaries
The Complete Roadmap
Chapter 1: Social Justice Theory as a Disorganized Religion
Chapter 2: The Place of Postmodernism in Entrepreneurship
Chapter 3: The Philosophical Derivation of Postmodernism
Chapter 4: The Collapse of Reason and the Abandonment of Reality
Chapter 5: Postmodernism’s Attack on Liberal Western Values
Chapter 6: Postmodernism’s Impact on Entrepreneurship
Chapter 7: Discrimination as a Postmodern Phenomenon
Chapter 8: Feminisms, Gender, Disability, and Fat Studies as Postmodern Concerns
Chapter 9: Postmodernism’s Critical Theory and Intersectionalism
Chapter 10: Queer Theory
Chapter 11: Postmodern Social Justice in Action
Chapter 12: Postmodernism in the Form of Postcolonial Theory
Chapter 13: Theoretical and Applied Implications of Social Justice Theory for Entrepreneurship
Chapter 14: Entrepreneurship with a Social Justice Interpretation
Summary of Social Justice Theory as a Disorganized Religion
References
2 The Place of Postmodernism in Entrepreneurship
An Entrepreneurial Solution to Poverty
A Tidal Wave of Change
Incompatibility with Entrepreneurship
Woke Postmodernism in Focus
Postmodern Intersectionalism in Focus
Postmodernism’s Trending Focus on Inequality
Redistribution Under Postmodern Wokeism
Social Justice Debates that Matter
Summary of the Place of Postmodernism in Entrepreneurship
References
3 The Philosophical Derivation of Postmodernism
Modernism During the Age of Enlightenment
Postmodernism After the Age of Enlightenment
Postmodernism in the Academy
Reshaping the World
Kant as the Forerunner
German Philosophy as a Key Driver of Postmodernism
Metaphysical Solutions to Kant’s Separation of Reason from Reality
Saving Religion and Entrepreneurship
Solutions to Irrationalism
The Courage to Grasp Reality
Summary of the Philosophical Derivation of Postmodernism
References
4 The Collapse of Reason and the Abandonment of Reality
Heidegger’s Postmodernism
The Nature of Being
Discarding Logic and Reason for Emotions
Heidegger’s Contributions to Postmodernism
The Next Generation of Postmodernists
Kuhn and Rorty Target Postmodern’s Logical Positivism
Postmodernism’s Evisceration of Modernism
The Essence of Postmodernism
Summary of the Collapse of Reason and the Abandonment of Reality
References
5 Postmodernism’s Attack on Liberal Western Values
The Late 1960s and Before
The Late 1980s
Grand Narratives and the Loss of Rationality
Exposing Subordination by Oppressors
By the 1990s
A Secular Religion
Splintering and Subdividing
Claims of Abuse and Discrimination
Between 1980 and 2010
The Arrival of New Theoretical Variants
Resistant Identity-Based Oppression
Confronting Radical Doubt
Postcolonial Studies
Women’s Studies
How Liberalism and Modernity Were Attacked
Summary of Postmodernism’s Attack on Liberal Western Value
References
6 Postmodernism’s Impact on Entrepreneurship
Information as the Starting Point
The Systematic Search for Discoveries
Judgment
Rational Choice and Pattern Matching
Informational Entrepreneurship
Constrained Systematic Search as Informational Entrepreneurship
Positioning in Time and Space
Estimating the Wealth Creating Potential of Opportunities
Arbitraging Windows of Opportunity
Conventions
Forgiving Business Models
Cooperative Arrangements
Discussion and Conclusions
Summary of Postmodernism’s Impact on Entrepreneurship
Appendix: Moderators of Industry Threats
References
7 Discrimination as a Postmodern Phenomenon
Prevalence Rates and Racial Discrimination
Prerequisites for Disparities
Prerequisites and Probabilities
Intelligence, Prerequisites, and Disparities
Guides, Mentors, and Potential Benefactors
Dynamism, Agriculture, and Disparate Impact
Empirical Evidence
Genetic Determinism
People
Institutions
Geography
Demography
Discrimination
Types and Causes
Crime as a Form of Discrimination
Demographics
Attitudes May not Lead to Outcomes
Non-random Interaction
Causation
The Oppressive Intentions of Discrimination
Summary of Discrimination as a Postmodern Phenomenon
References
8 Feminisms, Gender, Disability, and Fat Studies as Postmodern Concerns
The Spread of Postmodern Ideology
Feminisms and Gender Studies
Previous Feminisms and How They Have Changed
Gender Studies
Doing Gender
The Demise of Liberal Feminism
Masculinity Through a Feminist Lens
Gender and Entrepreneurship
Disability as a Postmodern Concern
Ableism
The Beginning of the End
Fat Studies as Postmodernism
Power as a Paranoid Tautology
Summary of Feminisms, Gender, Disability, and Fat Studies as Postmodern Concerns
References
9 Postmodernism’s Critical Race Theory and Intersectionalism
Ending Racism by Seeing It Everywhere
A Social Construct
Activist Protests
Justifying Colonialism and the Slave Trade
Early Crusaders
Historicity
Critical Race Theory
Intersectionality
Summary of Postmodernism’s Critical Theory and Intersectionalism
References
10 Queer Theory
Freedom from Being Normal
The History of Queer Theory
Queer as Both a Verb and a Noun
Summary of Queer Theory
References
11 Postmodern Social Justice in Action
Wokeism
Social Justice Precepts
Social Justice Evolving
Advocacy by the Believers
Social Justice Naming Exercises
Standpoint Theory
Critical Pedagogy Versus Critical Thinking
Summary of Postmodern Social Justice in Action
References
12 Postmodernism in the Form of Postcolonial Theory
Deconstructing Western Traditions
Applied Postmodernism
From Deconstruction to Reconstruction
Viewpoints Compared
Decolonizing Everything
Postcolonialism’s Impact on Entrepreneurship
Summary of Postmodernism in the Form of Postcolonial Theory
References
13 Theoretical and Applied Implications of Social Justice Theory for Entrepreneurship
Theoretical Social Justice
Identity and Religion
Postmodernism and Intersectionalism
A Subjective, Imaginary World
Incompatibility
Incomplete Arguments
Reshaping the World
Truth, Objectivity, and Reason
Attacking Western Values
Women’s Studies
Intersectionality
Social Justice and Applied Entrepreneurship
The Anti-realist Struggle Against Entrepreneurship
A Realist Perspective on Information
Informational Entrepreneurship and Social Justice Theory
Summary of Theoretical and Applied Implications of Social Justice Theory for Entrepreneurship
References
14 Entrepreneurship with a Social Justice Interpretation
A Reification of Postmodernism
Entrepreneurship Is Different
Changing the Narrative—Classic Liberalism Without Identity Politics
Liberal Principles
Denominations of Truth
Solutions
Secularism
Principled Opposition to Social Justice
Principled Analysis of Social Injustice Manifesto
Racism
Sexism
Bigotry Against Sexual Minorities
Social Injustice
Summary of Entrepreneurship with a Social Justice Interpretation
References
Epilogue
A Political Agenda
Situational Feelings and Truth
Lacking Non-linguistic Standards Leads to Tautological Arguments
References
Index
