Entrepreneurship as an object of hope: Affirmative critique in the Anthropocene

This article explores entrepreneurship as an object of hope. The agenda is to push forward critical entrepreneurship studies (CES) that challenge the shortcomings of mainstream approaches while affirming transformative and emancipatory possibilities. The basic argument is that CES’ emphasis on more radically disruptive conceptions and uses for entrepreneurship reflects a broader belief in human agency as the key to unlocking alternative futures. But if the Anthropocene is the manifestation of human agency’s hegemony and destructivity towards the Earth, then it becomes a matter of urgency to affirm the (entrepreneurial) agency of nonhuman beings. Forgoing the hope for a ‘happy ending’ could lead to the emergence of more-than-human entrepreneurship as a new topic of future-oriented inquiry. • Entrepreneurship is scrutinized as ’an object of hope’ • Both mainstream and critical approaches are found to be deeply anthropocentric • More-than-human entrepreneurship is proposed