Restorative entrepreneuring: A new cross- disciplinary agenda to support at-risk social groups

Abstract

In this paper we uncover and systematize practical challenges and research priorities at the intersection of entrepreneuring, rehabilitation and at-risk social groups. Our work draws on practical challenges identified by service providers supporting vulnerable individuals in the process of rehabilitation. They reveal long-standing issues in the facilitation of emancipatory work and perspectives on the (actual and potential) role that entrepreneuring may play in the process. Leveraging these ideas we offer the notion of restorative entrepreneuring and put forward a cross-disciplinary agenda comprised by five spaces and four levels of inquiry. We offer 20 action-oriented research questions, reflecting research priorities that are relevant in both theoretical and practical terms. We propose this practice-based agenda as a way of inspiring our scholarly community to explore in more detail the capacity of and possibilities for a new restorative entrepreneuring in the support of vulnerable members of our society.