Entrepreneurship: Causing, Perpetuating or Mitigating Structural Injustices?

Entrepreneurship scholarship is typified by a tendency to view entrepreneurship as an exclusively positive force in society (Wiklund et al., 2019). However, recent scholarship on the dark side of entrepreneurship has increased recognition that new businesses can create many ‘bads’ (Shepherd, 2019), including structural injustices (van Burren et al., 2021). Structural injustices are found in many industries, where both organizations and individuals can cause and perpetuate them, although they often do not intend to and are often unaware of it (Young, 2006). According to Young, a “structural injustice is produced and reproduced by thousands or millions of persons usually acting within institutional rules and according to practices that most people regard as morally acceptable” (2013, p. 95). A paradigmatic example of an industry characterized by high levels of structural injustice is the (fast) fashion industry, notorious for its exploitation of workers (who often work long hours without receiving a living wage), perpetuation of unjust and sexist structures (e.g., preventing workers from being represented by unions or firing pregnant workers), and use of dangerous labor practices (textile workers, 80% of whom are women, are exposed to various occupational hazards).