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'Family money' and 'business money': bankrupt entrepreneurs in a ‘question situation’

Sellerberg, Ann Mari LU (2009) In Community, Work and Family 12(4).
Abstract
This paper addresses the question of bankruptcy and honesty in local contexts, and especially the problem of the bankrupt small businessman in conveying ‘honesty’ to the local community. Studying bankrupt entrepreneurs, the analysis explores a tacit dialogue between the failed businessmen and the small town communities where they live and work. The bankrupts respond to their seemingly mistrustful surroundings by demonstrating their respect for the dividing line between two social categories of money: ‘company money’ and ‘family money’. This discursive resource expresses business ethics and respectability, both essential for the bankrupt entrepreneur to start another business in the local community.



The empirical material... (More)
This paper addresses the question of bankruptcy and honesty in local contexts, and especially the problem of the bankrupt small businessman in conveying ‘honesty’ to the local community. Studying bankrupt entrepreneurs, the analysis explores a tacit dialogue between the failed businessmen and the small town communities where they live and work. The bankrupts respond to their seemingly mistrustful surroundings by demonstrating their respect for the dividing line between two social categories of money: ‘company money’ and ‘family money’. This discursive resource expresses business ethics and respectability, both essential for the bankrupt entrepreneur to start another business in the local community.



The empirical material in the study consists of interviews with twenty-two businessmen who had created small businesses and experienced at least one bankruptcy, half of them in small towns. The entrepreneurs were found through court records and word-of-mouth. Interviews were conducted by the author and by graduate students from the Department of Sociology in Lund. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
respectability, bankruptcy, account, expression, money, honesty, trust, sociology, sociologi
in
Community, Work and Family
volume
12
issue
4
publisher
Taylor & Francis
ISSN
1366-8803
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0d8139c8-4967-462b-9bab-494335ff53cc (old id 1245576)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:55:20
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:01:47
@article{0d8139c8-4967-462b-9bab-494335ff53cc,
  abstract     = {{This paper addresses the question of bankruptcy and honesty in local contexts, and especially the problem of the bankrupt small businessman in conveying ‘honesty’ to the local community. Studying bankrupt entrepreneurs, the analysis explores a tacit dialogue between the failed businessmen and the small town communities where they live and work. The bankrupts respond to their seemingly mistrustful surroundings by demonstrating their respect for the dividing line between two social categories of money: ‘company money’ and ‘family money’. This discursive resource expresses business ethics and respectability, both essential for the bankrupt entrepreneur to start another business in the local community.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The empirical material in the study consists of interviews with twenty-two businessmen who had created small businesses and experienced at least one bankruptcy, half of them in small towns. The entrepreneurs were found through court records and word-of-mouth. Interviews were conducted by the author and by graduate students from the Department of Sociology in Lund. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim.}},
  author       = {{Sellerberg, Ann Mari}},
  issn         = {{1366-8803}},
  keywords     = {{respectability; bankruptcy; account; expression; money; honesty; trust; sociology; sociologi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Community, Work and Family}},
  title        = {{'Family money' and 'business money': bankrupt entrepreneurs in a ‘question situation’}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}