Anders Örtenblad is Professor of Work Life Science at the University of Agder, Norway. He has edited books for, e.g., Edward Elgar Publishing, Oxford University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge and Sage. He is the founder of the book series Palgrave Debates in Business and Management.

There is a lot of hype surrounding "entrepreneurship" these days; in some quarters, it is hailed as the answer to global catastrophe, with private enterprise wading in where governments fail. In the media, entrepreneurs are held up as modern folk-heroes, perpetuating a narrative of hard work, substantial reward and rugged individualism. But is entrepreneurship really as fabulous as it may seem?

This monograph brings together essays from academics in interdisciplinary fields, drawing on established scholarly literature, fascinating new research and case studies from a wide range of companies and circumstances, to provide a counterbalance to the prevailing narrative of entrepreneurship as unambiguous good. It examines the fetishization of entrepreneurship, the effect of neoliberal control, the harmful effect of entrepreneurship on the mental health of professionals, the organizational damage caused by entrepreneurial practices, social inequality and data piracy, and more.

It will appeal to academics working in the field of entrepreneurship, especially those in search of an oft-neglected critical perspective.

1. Background and introduction: how could anyone be against entrepreneurship?, Anders Örtenblad.- 2. Self-employment and entrepreneurship: not only productive but also unproductive and destructive, Dieter Bögenhold.- 3. Notes on a fetishist war machine, Daniel Ericsson.- 4. Keep the machine running: entrepreneurship as a practice of control in the neoliberal economy, Kenneth Mølbjerg Jørgensen and Ann Starbæk Bager.- 5. Fetishizing the entrepreneurship, Frederik Hertel.- 6. Entrepreneurship ad absurdum, Anna-Maria Murtola.- 7. Against entrepreneurship: unveiling social inequalities for minority entrepreneurship, Kiran Trehan, Priyanka Vedi and Alex Kevill.- 8. The fairytale of the successful entrepreneur: reasons and remedies for the prevalent ideology of entrepreneurship, Fabiola H. Gerpott and Alfred Kieser.- 9. From entrepreneurship to eco-preneurship, Ove Jakobsen and Vivi M.L. Storsletten.- 10. Entrepreneurial insouciance (or imperiousness), the big risk shift and the entrepreneurship interregnum, Philip Cooke.- 11. The dark side of entrepreneurial passion: restraining employee innovative behaviour?, Eeva Aromaa, Ulla Hytti and Satu Aaltonen.-12. In defense of the comfort zone: against the hegemony of creative destruction, Jerzy Kociatkiewicz and Monika Kostera.- 13. Entrepreneurship addiction and the negative mental health consequences of entrepreneurial engagement among some entrepreneurs, April J. Spivack.- 14. Against irresponsible entrepreneurship: a dual perspective on the impact of entrepreneurship on firm survival, Denise Fleck.- 15. The dark side of entrepreneurship: the role of the dark side of personality, Bekir Emre Kurtulmü.