What is the role of incubators and hubs in the cultivation of entrepreneurialism? A qualitative case study among young, urban professionals in South Africa

How are entrepreneurial aspirations cultivated in Johannesburg’s ecosystem of start-up hubs, events, and incubation programs? In a context of conflicting expectations and (im)possibilities for economic success, I look at the way entrepreneurial programs attract and select participants, and the stories and performances they produce. Rather than evaluate the effects of their interventions, I thus focus on the subjectivation processes that take place in the interactions between a globalized discourse, local (hi)stories and aspiring individuals.

Paper by Lieve de Coninck, PhD Candidate University of Amsterdam

Discussant Dr Andrea Jimenez, Lecturer at the University of Sheffield