The liminal transitions of Irish and Spanish necessity entrepreneurs.
Lucia García-Lorenzo, Lucia Sell-Trujillo, Paul Donnelly. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Ethnography symposium (2014).
Spanish and Irish necessity entrepreneurs to better understand the process of becoming an
entrepreneur. Working with narratives, media articles, and policy documents, we illustrate how
necessity entrepreneurs do not recognize themselves in the institutionalized entrepreneur narrative
as empowered, creative and independent individuals. It is necessity, not opportunity that is pushing,
not pulling, them to become entrepreneurial. The transition process is also experienced as more
fragmented than official narratives outline. In exposing these liminal stories, the paper aims to
expand our understanding of entrepreneurship, presenting a more nuanced view of both
entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial process.
