Narratives of entrepreneurship as a force for good have taken on mythical qualities—relying on assumptions about the ideal entrepreneur, ideal venture, and ideal means of achieving success that are disconnected from much of reality. Among others, these myths are carried and transmitted by entrepreneurship-supporting intermediaries. For intermediaries catering to entrepreneurs who largely conform to mainstream ideals—Western, male, college-educated, and white—the myths pose minimal challenges. However, they present a dilemma for intermediaries relying on entrepreneurship as an emancipatory tool for marginalized groups. In this context, how does the appropriation of mainstream entrepreneurship myths affect the emancipatory trajectories of marginalized entrepreneurs? Relying on a 2-year ethnography of a French incubator supporting entrepreneurs from disadvantaged neighborhoods (banlieues), we find that participants who appropriated mainstream entrepreneurial myths achieved both material and subjective emancipation by leveraging the incubator’s resources. By contrast, although entrepreneurs who rejected the myths forewent material resources, they achieved subjective emancipation on their own terms. Our findings contribute to the literatures on emancipatory entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship for social change. Importantly, we show how an economic interpretation of emancipation, coupled with decontextualized models of entrepreneurship support, may hinder different forms of emancipation among marginalized entrepreneurs.
