Cultural entrepreneurship : generic tensions amplified by the small size of organisations[L'entrepreneuriat culturel : des tensions génériques qu'amplifie la petite taille des organisations]

In what way is the theme of cultural entrepreneurship something else than a simple societal or institutional injunction, particularly in France for micro-organisations with professional aim and other than profit-making goals in the field of culture ? While contextual developments, since the end of the last century, largely explain why this theme is currently so pregnant, it also gains to be looked at through the generic tensions of the cultural economy along with those that can be found in very small enterprises. An approach which gives its rightful place to the qualitative and collective dimensions of cultural entrepreneurship therefore seems more relevant than going no further than a conception which would be either far too economical or focused on the figure of the individual entrepreneur. The importance of non-profit-making goals is also to be underlined, even if the issue of a minimal economic viability for each project or organisation remains central. Those different elements are even more intense in very small enterprises. Attempts at cooperative arrangement between cultural micro-enterprises thus show the full interest, but also the structural difficulties, of such approaches, if only to ensure a minimal economic viability for projects whose stakes are not only economic.