Refereed article in compilation book (A3)

From Household Economy to Family Business




List of AuthorsJarna Heinonen, Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen

EditorsJarna Heinonen and Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen

PlaceNew York

Publication year2018

Book title *Women in Business Families - From past to present

Title of seriesRoutledge Advances in Management and Business Studies

Start page3

End page13

Number of pages11

ISBN978-1-138-63596-8

eISBN978-1-315-20629-5

DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315206295

URLhttps://www.routledge.com/Women-in-Business-Families-From-Past-to-Present/Heinonen-Vainio-Korhonen/p/book/9781138635968

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/30478798


Abstract

The Chapter provides a theoretical introduction to the book "Women in Business Families - from past to present". This volume analyses and discusses
the topical themes of family business and women in the past and present. The
uniqueness of the volume lies in its attempts to focus on time and place in
understanding gender in businesses and women’s agency in firms by combining
historical and contemporary perspectives and research. The volume integrates
the notions of time and gender in focusing on family businesses or business
families over time.


Through the contemporary focus on
gender equality, a gender gap has been identified with regard to female
entrepreneurship, and particularly to women´s involvement in businesses. We
take three contemporary notions and topical phenomena of the current society as
lenses and subject them to further analysis, both in the historical and
contemporary perspectives, when analysing gendered practices and equality in
business families over time. The three underlining themes are: 1) Challenging
the heroic image of male entrepreneurs, 2) Notions of the visibility and
invisibility of women, and 3) Women in business succession. We devote a section
in the volume to each of the themes, which are highly relevant in the current
(women’s) entrepreneurship literature.


The volume balances between historical
and contemporary analyses and the authors apply either historical or
contemporary perspectives to the themes in exploring the applicability of the
concepts in understanding the role of women in business families. The
historians particularly explore whether the concepts have temporality, i.e.
whether the concepts could already be found in early modern times, when
capitalism emerged in the society, and whether they have any historical
relevance. From the perspective of a piece of historical research this approach
is novel, as historians usually focus on historical stories and occasions. The
aim here is that historical analyses give deeper understanding and perspective
on women´s business involvement in current times. The contemporary research on
entrepreneurship demonstrates the stability of women´s roles in the economy and
business and enlightens the reader in the ways in which female agency in
business evolves over time. The chapters also focus on time and history when analysing the
contemporary phenomena.



















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Last updated on 2022-07-04 at 16:50