Title: Social production of cultural values: narratives of social entrepreneurs in India

Authors: Bhabani Shankar Padhy; R. Kumar Bhaskar

Addresses: Sanskrithi School of Business, Puttaparthi, India ' Department of Management and Commerce, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, 515134, India

Abstract: This study explores dynamics between the structure and agency of social entrepreneurs in India who employ market-based methods to address intractable social deprivations. It outlines the process of social production of cultural values in the Indian context. The authors have implemented a qualitative inductive research design to analyse the narratives of 37 social entrepreneurs through the lens of Bourdieu's theory of practice. This empirical study demonstrates that even though the social entrepreneurial agency in India tends to absorb features of both the commercial and social sectors it is primarily shaped by the meta-narratives of social sector norms. Social entrepreneurs exercise regulated liberty by contextualising various cultural values while negotiating with structural constraints in order to avoid mission drift. This analysis contributes to the understanding of how social entrepreneurs with greater agency strive to maintain a balance between mission and fiscal goals by selectively blending field-specific norms and how their behaviour leads to the nuanced production of cultural values.

Keywords: structure; agency; Bourdieu; social entrepreneurs; cultural values; social production; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2026.151840

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2026 Vol.37 No.2, pp.249 - 275

Received: 15 Jan 2024
Accepted: 01 Feb 2024
Published online: 23 Feb 2026 *

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