ABSTRACT

This chapter evaluates the collection of studies using the terms 'critical' and 'entrepreneurship' in order to make transparent the kinds of questions, issues and concerns being addressed through critical inquiry. The chapter offers a reflection on the process of critical inquiry in entrepreneurship research and to draw attention to how different inquirers engage with criticality in order to stimulate alternative ways of attending to entrepreneurship. It outlines the core assumptions, meanings, tactics and principles that are central to critical research. It reviews the entrepreneurship literature to identify the research problems being addressed through the use of critical research tactics. Additionally, critical tactics can be used to transform arguments into ideological critiques that challenge received wisdom and knowledge about society, the economy and the various organizational, institutional and managerial practices that constitute the socio-economic world. It concludes with some suggestions for sharpening critical engagement and reflexivity in entrepreneurship research.