No politics, no society: Questioning the justification of entrepreneurship in Chilean public policies

Studies show that the state plays a positive role in shaping conditions for entrepreneurship and promoting economicgrowth through entrepreneurial activity. However, the question of how state intervention in entrepreneurshipis justified in neoliberal regimes has received scant attention, although it can legitimize public policies. We examinethe entrepreneurial slant of the Production and Commerce Development Corporation of Chile (CORFO), whichimplements regulations and grants financial support to startups. Analyzing interviews with CORFO’s state officials,public statements, and official documentation, we review the advent of state-led entrepreneurial policy andexplore the post-dictatorial government’s principles justifying current state policy. This policy relies on doublede-politicization: i) divesting entrepreneurship from political affiliation and ii) propagating a meritocratic rhetoricof social and individual development, oblivious of structural inequalities. We argue that this is functional for thisregime as long as it guarantees state intervention in entrepreneurship as a policy of common good.