Lecturer to Address Australian Entrepreneurialism

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Lecturer to Address Australian Entrepreneurialism

Simon Down is deputy director for the Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise at the Newcastle University Business School. He will speak at the UA this month about entrepreneurialism among indigenous populations in Australia. (Photo courtesy of Newcastle University)

Simon Down will travel to the UA from the United Kingdom to give a presentation about entrepreneurial indigenous populations in Australia.

By University Communications
April 13, 2009

Entrepreneurialism among indigenous populations in Australia is the topic of a public lecture being held this month by The University of Arizona's McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship.

Simon Down, deputy director for the Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise at the Newcastle University Business School, has been invited by the UA center – which is part of the Eller College of Management – to present the lecture.

Down will speak about entrepreneurial indigenous groups – a topic that stems from an article he co-authored with James Reveley of the University of Wollongong – on Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 208 of McClelland Hall, 1130 E. Helen St.

The lecture is titled "Stigmatization and Self-Presentation in Australian Entrepreneurial Identity Formation." Registration is required. To reserve a space, send an e-mail to mmars@eller.arizona.edu.

Down, who is also a senior lecturer at his business school in the United Kingdom, has published numerous works that focus on topics related to international business, small businesses, entrepreneurialism and enterprise. He and Reveley explain ways in which the dynamics in Australia represent a key example of ways certain politics and indigenous rights have clashed in areas of social and economic development.

In the article that was published last year, the co-authors note that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have increasingly been encouraged to start businesses with the prevailing belief being that "supporting indigenous enterprise start-ups will help to alleviate the socio-economic disadvantage, thereby improving life-chances and decreasing their dependence on the state."

However, this motive does not go without criticism.

The authors noted that such a push is viewed by some to be an example of "colonial repression and ongoing state-led attempts to structure and influence the economic and social arrangements of indigenous peoples."

They also noted that "enterprising" helps indigenous populations in Australia to "cope with the experience of having their identities spoiled" by being disadvantaged, stigmatized and also discriminated against.

Down will speak about such issues, and others, relative to the situation and ways in which both social and political forces "influence the formation of Australian Aboriginal entrepreneurial identities."