Activist entrepreneurship for a sustainable future: an integrative framework

Abstract

With the growth of activism in our societies, research has begun to explore the possible links between activism and entrepreneurship. Three main streams of research - social entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship, and sustainable entrepreneurship - have already approached the links between activism and entrepreneurship. Reinterpreting an emblematic case from each research stream through an activist lens allows us to identify previously untheorized elements. The result is an integrative framework for the phenomenon of activist entrepreneurship organized around three main components: 1) cause advocacy; 2) community generation; 3) boundless action. The framework provides a common reading grid for all phenomena combining activism and entrepreneurship.