Postfeminist claims and lived rural realities: an empirical study of copreneuring in Sweden

Purpose This paper aims to scrutinise postfeminist claims about gender progressiveness and entrepreneurial equality through exploring the lived realities of copreneurs on green care farms. Through applying a processual approach to gendering and entrepreneuring, we analyse how gendering is manifested, to what extent and how the ongoing gendering tinkers, tailors or transforms traditional gendering, as well as the discrepancies between post-feminist claims and lived realities. Design/methodology/approach Eight farms in rural Sweden, where different-sex couples engage in green care entrepreneurship, were studied through interviews and participant observations. The research employs an inductive approach, with data analysed using the Gioia methodology. Findings We find that postfeminist claims are far from the lived realities of rural copreneurs on farms and suggest that such claims have an urban and industrial bias. Furthermore, we find that in copreneuring on green care farms in Sweden, the gendering manifests in division of labour and economic power structures, where traditional gendering of tasks and economic power is ongoing. A few instances of tinkering and tailoring of this gendering were also found, but no examples of transformative change. Originality/value This paper offers a unique in-depth study of manifestations of gendering in rural copreneurship. This contributes firstly by empirically strengthening the critique of the postfeminist claims, revealing the urban bias and industrial limits to these claims. Secondly, the study contributes to the understudied area of gendering in copreneurship, shedding light on rural copreneurship as a significant form of business. The findings challenge the view that entrepreneurship can offer an escape from gendering processes. Thirdly, we contribute to a highly needed integration of a gendering perspective into copreneurship and family business studies.