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even more importantly, their effects on the individual's moral identity. Sennett discusses questions such as what happens in society if the main characteristics of economic activities and work are neither long-term nor stable, but flexible and short-term, setting the pace for all other activities and thus reformulating people's identities. Sennett takes up the complicated question of character, which could be defined as the moral dimension of a person's identity, and its integrity with regard to changes in current working life and institutional structures, which to a larger extent than previously, are based on short-term projects and contract performances. Rather than writing a detailed study based on the multitude of research evidence on the effects of increasing flexibility and uncertainty at work, Richard Sennett has chosen another way to put forward his argument. Sennett has written an extended philosophical essay in which he explores the disorienting effects on the self of the new capitalism. The book consists of eight chapters, each of which focuses on different aspects of the main argument, the corrosion of character in the new economic order. It begins with a short description of a coincidental meeting at the airport with a young man in his thirties named Rico. The description of the meeting with Rico introduces us to Sennett's main argument. Rico is the son of Enrico, someone whom Sennett had inter-viewed for a study on blue-collar workers and their perceptions of class in America a quarter century ago. By discussing the differences between the lives of father and son and their life histories, differences that go beyond mere class status, work descriptions and upward mobility based on education, Sennett argues that there has been a general corrosion of character, which becomes eloquently visible in their respective positions at work, and in their personal estimations of self and circumstances, i.e. their life histories. Sennett's argument is that the flexibilities and uncertainties of current working life are eroding the integrity of the self and the sense of sustained purpose in the individual's life in ways that have not existed earlier in society, but which have been introduced with recent changes in the economic order. According to Sennett. the new era of work and economy,including globalization of work, flexibility and especially the breaking apart of big bureaucracies and organizations into looser networks with their contingent project work and teamwork, are all changing work values in the most profound ways. all of which undermine character. As the networks are constantly redefining their structures and characters, the same is bound to happen to individuals who are working in short-term contracts and episodic work relations. It seems indeed, in Schumpeterian terms, that the entrepreneur is served up as an ideal Everyman alongside a 'portfolio' worker. The term 'new capitalism' refers, among other things, to globalization of production, finance and trade, and especially to flexible specialization,...

This paper seeks to stimulate debate on the agendas, methodologies and methods used in the field of small business and entrepreneurship. The paper raises questions regarding the research agendas pursued and provides some pointers for the direction of future research. Integral to this is the argument that there is a need to reflect on the condition of small‐business research and to raise the quality of research by employing robust research methods. This may involve questioning the role of small firms and entrepreneurship in society rather than merely advocating them and the policy measures taken when supporting and/or developing the small business sector. The dominance of specific viewpoints, the methodologies used in small business studies, and the consequences of these in relation to the development of a coherent scientific field of small business studies are also discussed. Examples of research activity are discussed to illustrate these themes. Overall, the paper argues that entrepreneurship and small business is a lucrative area for research. However, if the field of inquiry is to flourish, it needs to be approached from a more critical perspective, instead of merely accepting normative, or even strongly ideologically driven, standpoints now dominant in so many studies. This has implications for research agendas, methodologies and ultimately research methods training.

The trend in women's self-employment appeared to be upward in the 1980s and 1990s, but women are still less likely than men to start new businesses. The economic growth potential in most industrialized countries is gendered, and with lack of paid employment opportunities, more hopes are targeted towards women's entrepreneurship. We will explore women's selfemployment preferences across Scandinavian countries, 1 and the influence and importance of societal and individual factors affecting self-employment preferences and their similarities and differences. Perception of self-employment skills arises across the countries as the most salient factor predicting self-employment preference. The multivariate models differ across the countries, thus challenging the existence of a universal Scandinavian model that explains the entrepreneurial activities of women. This article makes two contributions. First, we show that gender has become a key element in new firm formation activities. Second, we contribute to entrepreneurial theories by demonstrating similarities and differences across the countries and adding the importance of structural issues for explaining gender and entrepreneurial activities.K E Y WO R D S : gender; Nordic countries; self-employment; women International Small Business Journal

This article analyses the portrayal of the female corporate manager in the economic media. More specifically the article examines the ways in which femininity and gendered power become enacted in feature articles about high level corporate leaders and managers in the global economic newspaper, The Economist, and through that enacted as part of the wider gender asymmetry in the economy. The media has a crucial role in constructing, changing and stabilizing representations, stereotypes and images. The article identifies, categorizes and presents managers as genderspecific social actors and members of elite business groups. Feature articles in The Economist about top managers were analysed over the period 2006–2013 with the help of thematic classifications influenced by critical discourse analysis. The analysis demonstrates that the global economy-focused print media has contributed to fending off and defining a ‘suitable managerial femininity’ for female managers that is aligned with the ideology of the third spirit of capitalism, but does not threaten the reigning masculinity of corporate management elite.