Product has been added to your cart.

Call For Book Chapter Proposals – Language In Entrepreneurship Across Contexts

Deadline for abstracts: 31st July 2026

Editors:

Maria Ivanova-Gongne, Åbo Akademi University

Maria Hokkinen, Åbo Akademi University

Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen, Åbo Akademi University

Download the full call here, or see below:

AIM & SCOPE
Languages play a central role in business life, affecting interpersonal relations,
management decisions, and organizational processes alike (Piekkari & Tietze, 2011;
Brannen, Piekkari & Tietze, 2014; Tenzer, Terjesen & Harzing, 2017). However, the study
of language practices, meanings and policies has so far mainly focused on the MNC
context and international business (Presbitero et al., 2023), largely disregarding
entrepreneurial and small business contexts. Still, language is inherently embedded in
entrepreneurship via individuals and plays a core role in how entrepreneurial activities
and opportunities unfold (see e.g. Wilmot, 2017; Ivanova-Gongne et al., 2023, 2024;
Brännback et al., 2025; Orrensalo et al., 2025, Barner-Rasmussen et al., 2026). Against
this background, research should explore language as a fundamental resource of
entrepreneurship in both cross-border, social, and digital contexts, and examine how
linguistic practices shape entrepreneurial opportunities, identities, and inequalities in a
world growing simultaneously more interconnected and more fragmented. A
comprehensive understanding of language in entrepreneurship will approach it as a
multi-layered phenomenon, shaped by and shaping global mobility patterns and
societal-level contextual circumstances as well as everyday business practices. The aim
should be for a holistic understanding of how language both supports and hinders
entrepreneurial activity – often at the same time.
To fulfilthis aim, we invite chapter proposals for the book Language in entrepreneurship
across contexts. We welcome a full range of approaches, including qualitative,
quantitative and mixed-method studies, conceptual and theoretical papers, literature
reviews, and practically oriented case studies. We encourage international diversity in
terms of authors’ backgrounds as well as empirical contexts. Contributions will be
united by their focus on a language-sensitive approach to entrepreneurship and small
business research. Contributions will be organized in two sections that may tentatively
include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Section 1: Global mobility and multilingual systems

  • International mobility and language in entrepreneurship: for example, the role of
    national, regional and minority languages, migration, and cross-border business
    communication.
  • Multilingualism in entrepreneurial ecosystems
    How multiple languages coexist and interact within local and global entrepreneurial
    settings, and how multilingual competence shapes access to markets, funding
    opportunities, networks, and international growth.
  • Hybrid language practices and code-switching
    The use of mixed or fluid language practices in entrepreneurial communication. This
    may include, for example, how hybrid language use supports meaning-making,
    identity construction, and efficiency in multicultural teams and transnational
    business contexts.
  • Language ideologies, hierarchies, policies, power relations, and inequality
    How beliefs about “correct,” “standard,” or “prestigious” language shape
    entrepreneurial opportunities and constraints. This includes the role of broader
    power structures that privilege certain languages while marginalizing others in
    business environments.
  • Language education as an enabler of entrepreneurship
    The role of formal and informal language learning in supporting entrepreneurial
    activity, particularly in relation to global mobility.

Section 2: Social, contextual and digital variations

  • Social variation in language (sociolects): How language differs across social
    groups in entrepreneurial contexts, including dialects, accents, age, gender,
    professions, and how these variations influence credibility, belonging, and
    professional recognition.
  • Context-dependent language use and linguascapes in everyday entrepreneurial
    practices, such as pitching, negotiation, internal team communication, and
    customer interaction.
  • Idiolects and neurodiversity: Individual language patterns and communication
    styles linked to, for example, neurodiversity, and how these affect collaboration,
    innovation, and inclusion in entrepreneurial environments.
  • AI and digital language in entrepreneurship: The role of AI tools and digital
    platforms in shaping how entrepreneurs write, speak, and communicate, ranging
    from automated content creation to platform-specific communication styles.
  • Other layers of language in entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Abstracts/chapter proposals should be 200-300 words in length. Submit your abstract by email
to or by 31st of July 2026. The abstracts will be reviewed
by the editors, and the authors will be notified of acceptance in September 2026 with an
invitation to submit a full chapter of 6,000-8,000 words in length (including figures, tables, and
references) for a blind review by the end of January 2027.

REFERENCES
Barner-Rasmussen, W., Hokkinen, M., Ivanova-Gongne, M., & Lång, S. (2026). Between agency
and constraint: Refugees’ additional language learning in a bilingual receiving country context.
In Language Education and Learners of a Refugee Background. Springer.

Brannen, M. Y., Piekkari, R., & Tietze, S. (2017). The multifaceted role of language in
international business: Unpacking the forms, functions and features of a critical challenge to
MNC theory and performance. In Language in international business: Developing a field (pp.
139-162). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Brännback, M., Lång, S., Carsrud, A., & Terjesen, S. (2025). Cross-cultural studies in
entrepreneurship: a note on culture and language. In M. Brännback, A.L. Carsrud, D. M.

Hechavarria, & J. Kickul (Eds.) Handbook of research methods and applications in
entrepreneurship and small business (2nd ed,) (pp. 205-223). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Ivanova-Gongne, M., Barner-Rasmussen, W., Torkkeli, L., & Elo, M. (2023). Language in
intercultural business interactions: A self-perceived power perspective. Industrial Marketing
Management, 115, 312-326.

Ivanova-Gongne, M., Lång, S., Brännback, M., & Carsrud, A. (2024). Sensemaking by minority
entrepreneurs: Role identities and linguistic embeddedness. Journal of Small Business &
Entrepreneurship, 36(2), 239-262.

Orrensalo, T. P., Ivanova-Gongne, M., Lång, S., & Eskola, E. L. (2025). Migrant entrepreneurship
in official minority language contexts: a literature review. Cross Cultural & Strategic
Management, 1-29.

Piekkari, R., & Tietze, S. (2011). A world of languages: Implications for international management
research and practice. Journal of World Business, 46(3), 267-269.

Presbitero, A. (2020). Foreign language skill, anxiety, cultural intelligence and individual task
performance in global virtual teams: A cognitive perspective. Journal of International
Management, 26(2), 100729.

Tenzer, H., Terjesen, S., & Harzing, A. W. (2017). Language in international business: A review
and agenda for future research. Management international review, 57(6), 815-854.

Wilmot, N. (2017). Management of language diversity in international supply chain relationships
of UK SMEs. Doctoral dissertation, Sheffield Hallam University

Menu