Opportunism and diversification: entrepreneurship and livelihood strategies in uncertain times

Knight, D.M.

doi:10.1080/00141844.2013.822012

Opportunism and diversification: entrepreneurship and livelihood strategies in uncertain times

Knight, D.M.

Authors

D.M. Knight

Abstract

As economic crisis deepens across Europe people are forced to find innovative strategies to accommodate circumstances of chronic uncertainty. Even with a second multi-billion euro bailout package secured for Greece, the prospects of a sustainable recovery in the near future look bleak. However, crisis has also created dynamic spaces for entrepreneurial opportunism and diversification resulting in social mobility, relocation, shifts in livelihood strategy and a burgeoning informal economy. Although economic systems are currently undergoing radical reassessment, social demands such as competitive consumption remain. Opportunities for investment in renewable energy programmes, especially photovoltaics, are also pervasive. By considering cases of business opportunism and livelihood diversification in relation to Max Weber's concept of wertrational and notions of uncertainty, this article brings new perspectives to strategies of negotiating the worst economic crisis in living memory.

Citation

Knight, D. (2015). Opportunism and diversification: entrepreneurship and livelihood strategies in uncertain times. Ethnos, 80(1), 117-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2013.822012

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Sep 10, 2013
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2015
Deposit Date	Oct 15, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Feb 7, 2014
Journal	Ethnos
Print ISSN	0014-1844
Electronic ISSN	1469-588X
Publisher	Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	80
Issue	1
Pages	117-144
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2013.822012
Keywords	Greek crisis, Diversification, Opportunism, Max Weber, Uncertainty.

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Advance online version © 2013 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted.