Sustainable Entrepreneurship as a Driving Force for the SDGs? : A Case Study about the Identity of Sustainable Entrepreneurs and Their Potential within Contemporary Social Structures

Sammanfattning: This master’s thesis explores the case of sustainable entrepreneurs in Malmö to examine how they perceive themselves and their situation compared to the social imagination of how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are connected to entrepreneurship. The case study follows a hermeneutic approach intending to generate a deeper understanding of the subjective realities of sustainable entrepreneurs in an interpretative dialogue between the preunderstanding of the phenomenon based on three theoretical aspects of identity work that are considered important in contemporary identity research (power relations, authenticity, identity economics) and the understanding of the phenomenon based on empirical text collected in interviews. The more profound comprehension of the participants’ situation simultaneously creates knowledge about the specific context, which reveals the relationship between the individual and their social environment and implications for the identity of sustainable entrepreneurs and their behaviour. As a result, the findings contribute to the overall development of identity work research and with insights into the perceived realities of sustainable entrepreneurs in the discourse about their role in the SDGs and whether they have the capabilities to be the spearheads of sustainable development as proclaimed by the United Nations. The findings of the case study build a foundation to argue that sustainable entrepreneurs have the potential to become the drivers for sustainable development due to the compatibility of societal challenges with their interpretation of entrepreneurship and their commitment to sustainable practices based on their set of self-values which is required to satisfy their need for authenticity. However, the material limitations of modern social systems impede the performance of their full potential as agents of sustainable development. As a consequence, sustainable entrepreneurs expand their set of self-values to enable the adoption of identities that allow them to access required resources in society to realise the identity they perceive to possess.