Cultural Entrepreneurship in Africa

This book explores the opportunities and constraints that recent social, economic and political developments in Africa have generated for individuals intent on creating their own enterprise and on gaining social standing and influence. It widens perspectives on entrepreneurship by drawing attention to the diverse and partly new forms of entrepreneurial cultural activities that have emerged in Africa since the 1990s.

Different chapters provide ethnographically contextualized life stories of female and male entrepreneurs and bring out the concerns, aspirations and constraints of these local actors. The contributions illustrate historical continuities in these forms of entrepreneurship and assess the changing political and economic conditions under which individuals currently explore and invent novel forms of enterprise. Resourceful individuals often enjoy significant social and economic success, win the attention and admiration of large groups of people, and stimulate the formation of new popular cultures. The case studies cover domains as diverse as religious proselytism, politics, tourism, media, music and funeral organization.

Ute Roschenthaler is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, and scientific collaborator in the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders" at the Goethe University Frankfurt.

Dorothea Schulz is Professor in the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Cologne, Germany.