Entrepreneurship, Farming, and Identity: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

When necessity dictates, families can often make adaptations to continue in a lifestyle promoting family farming and signalling traditional values and way of life choices. This chapter investigates this phenomenon, including the dynamics of assets enlargement (economic and human capital) and how adept families are in integrating other forms of gainful employment into the farming way of life. The research utilises an interpretative (hermeneutic) phenomenological approach to foster insights and understanding about entrepreneurship capacity and action strategies of the farmer and family. The chapter hence explores how entrepreneurship relates to identity as ‘farmer’ and the ability to stay in a valued, yet modified, way of life. The term farmer is used in a broad manner, and includes crofters in Scotland (see Hunter, 2000; Stewart, 2005).