The aborted revolution: The moral economy of microfinance entrepreneurship in rural Bangladesh

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract

This paper interrogates entrepreneurship as a modernizing tool in rural societies. Building on a renewed interest in ‘moral economy’, it explores how entrepreneurship sits with the social institutions of Northern rural Bangladesh. Key findings evidence that the moral economy of entrepreneurship rests on the diffused idea of moral entrepreneurial idols and on traditional inter-personal networks of gendered obligations within households. Individuals participate to avoid risks and conform to traditional social institutions. I conclude that the imagined modernizing effect of entrepreneurship, the promised revolution, has been aborted by the very structures that support its expansion.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jun 2018
EventDevelopment Studies Association: Global Inequalities - Manchester, United Kingdom
Duration: 27 Jun 201829 Jun 2018
https://www.devstud.org.uk/conferences/2018/

Conference

ConferenceDevelopment Studies Association
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityManchester
Period27/06/1829/06/18
Internet address

Keywords

  • Morality
  • ETHNOGRAPHY
  • Finance
  • Poverty and inequality
  • Entrepreneurship

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