Toward a Sociology of the Boundary-Entrepreneur

Henri Bergeron (1) , Patrick Castel (1) , Etienne Nouguez (1)

1 CSO - Centre de sociologie des organisations (Sciences Po, CNRS)

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on the role of entrepreneurs in social and institutional change. Having described the types of “intermediary-entrepreneurs” and “translator-entrepreneurs” which have previously been identified in sociology, the authors propose a third type, that of the “boundary-entrepreneur” defined as an actor at the border of closed universes, a boundary-object and a border-guard. The study of the creation of a French programme for the prevention of childhood obesity helps to identify some of its promoters as boundary-entrepreneurs. The paper shows that these promoters have extended their self-presentations to fit into a world of multiple institutional boundaries and conflicts. By adopting the symmetrical point of view of the programme’s partners, the authors show that their recruitment was based on a series of projections and selective appropriations about the identity of the promoters of the programme and the actions that were developed.

Mots clés: Entrepreneur; Innovation; Boundary; Obesity; Prevention

Domaines: Sociologie; Science politique

Henri Bergeron, Patrick Castel, Etienne Nouguez. Toward a Sociology of the Boundary-Entrepreneur: Creation and Diffusion of a Programme for the Prevention of Obesity. Revue française de sociologie, 2013, 54 (2), pp.263 - 302. ⟨hal-01719501v1⟩