Enterprising Initiatives in the Experience Economy

Book excerpt: Over the last decade, the close relationship between culture and economy - or "the experience economy" – has risen on the agenda. Although there is an established research field for analysing the economic impact of entrepreneurship, there is currently a limited amount of research that analyses the cultural impact and opportunity of entrepreneurship. Linking experience economy with enterprising behavior moves the term away from businesses' competitiveness and consumer behavior towards a more value-focused business in general. This ground-breaking book integrates entrepreneurship and empowerment into one central theme, drawing on research from both the social sciences (innovation, entrepreneurship, empowerment and activism) and the humanities (participatory culture, user-generated designs, creative networks). Enterprising Initiatives expands the definition of entrepreneurship beyond a primarily economic profit-seeking phenomenon to a broader understanding of enterprising behaviour based on an individual-opportunity nexus. Beyond social entrepreneurship, it explores a broad range of individual, collective and cooperative citizen initiatives under the umbrella of enterprising action. This innovative approach will be of great interest to scholars in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, cultural entrepreneurship, cultural studies, and consumer culture, as well as for policy makers in public and local government, regional development and cultural event management.