Emancipation and Entrepreneurship
Emancipation Theory: Entrepreneurship as the Ultimate Freedom
The term emancipation has deep historical roots, from Roman laws regarding sons leaving their fathers' authority to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the women’s liberation movement. Fundamentally, it means breaking free from bonds.
In a groundbreaking paper, Rindova et al. (2009) propose that entrepreneurship is not just an economic activity, but a means of emancipation. They define "entrepreneuring" as efforts to create new environmental conditions by breaking free from the status quo.
The Three Elements of Emancipation
Rindova identifies three key processes through which entrepreneurship resembles emancipation: Seeking Autonomy, Authoring, and Making Declarations.
1. Seeking Autonomy (Breaking Free)
Autonomy has long been considered a primary motive for self-employment. Emancipation is defined as breaking free from an authority figure or system.
Rindova suggests that Google’s founding story is consistent with this drive. Larry Page and Sergey Brin worked to "download the internet" and create their own rules, breaking free from the constraints and ridicule of their academic environment. Entrepreneurs exploit cracks in the current system of rigid social relationships to bring about desirable change.
2. Authoring (Taking Ownership)
Authoring is about "becoming." It is the process of defining one’s own reality.
Entrepreneurs cannot rely on existing corporate ladders to define their worth. They must author their own networks, norms, and structures. By building a venture, the founder moves from being a passive participant in the economy to an active author of it.
3. Making Declarations (Creating Meaning)
This refers to the rhetoric entrepreneurs employ to gain legitimacy. Entrepreneurs must use bold language to highlight contradictions in the status quo.
For example, when Amazon.com declared it would be "Earth's Biggest Bookstore," it wasn't just a slogan; it was a provocation. This declaration highlighted the limitations of physical retail and generated stakeholder support for a new way of doing business.
The Critical Perspective: Is it a Trap?
While the theory paints a romantic picture of the "liberated founder," there is a darker side. From a critical perspective, entrepreneurship may itself be a trap for those unable to scale.
We often look at the winners—the "liberated ones"—and assume the path out of hardship is to start a business. However, for many, the "hustle" creates new forms of bondage (debt, overwork, instability) that are arguably worse than employment.
