The positive side of feminist theory in entrepreneurial finance: Feminist themes and tropes in crowdfunding for social change

Following literature that already reframes entrepreneurship as a social change activity, I consider the societal change potential of entrepreneurial narratives in crowdfunding pitches of predominantly female-run ventures. I understand the community-driven phenomenon crowdfunding therefore as a vehicle to transcend and change the predominantly masculine entrepreneurial discourse of innovation and business success. Following an idiographic methodology, I analyse the discourse in crowdfunding video-representations of female-run ventures and explore structure, linguistic usage, visual artefacts and the implied intentions towards social change from a feminist perspective. From the sampling set of 42 crowdfunding campaigns, I use the resulting discursive elements and tropes to identify feminist themes that drive the success of these campaigns through connecting with immanent societal values. With this I contribute to the social change perspective in entrepreneurship research by addressing epistemological issues within prevailing paradigms.