A Practice-Based Process Theory of Social Inequality and the Disruptive Role of Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Although inequality is at historic levels, with an ever smaller portion of society gleaning an increasingly larger portion of social rewards, a not insignificant level of mobility persists that has enabled groups to move up and down the social hierarchy within a few generations. Additionally, although social theorists have long called for the demise of the petit bourgeoisie, or entrepreneur class, it, too, is on the rise. In this paper, we integrate practice theory with entrepreneurship research to develop a process theory of inequality. Instead of focusing on wealth and income disparities, we examine the role of routinized social behaviors, or practices, and we describe how groups within society capture valuable practices, which leads to inequality and social stratification. At the same time, entrepreneurs introduce new practices and reapply or recombine existing practices to facilitate mobility and disrupt social stratification.