Mathias Karlsson
Senior lecturerI am a senior lecturer in business administration specializing in entrepreneurship.
Contact info
mathias.h.karlsson@lnu.se
0046709781002
Teaching
I teach entrepreneurship and organization at both undergraduate and master's levels. Additionally, I have co-supervised two PhD candidates who have now completed their doctorates.
Currently, I teach the following courses:
- 4FE150. Entrepreneurship as social change (course responsible)
- 4FE534. Contemporary issues in management (teacher)
- 4FE149. Entrepreneurship and context (teacher)
- 1FE466. Entreprenörskap och grundläggande affärsutveckling (course responsible)
- 1FE059. Projekthantering och entreprenörskap (course responsible)
- 2EB02E. Enterprising and business development, examensarbete (supervisor)
- 2EB020. Företagsamhet och affärsutveckling (teacher)
- 1IV225 Entreprenörskap med inriktning mot hälsopromotion (teacher)
- 1MP706. Innovation culture - concept, text and presentation (teacher)
- 1MP709. Project Production and Media Concept Development (teacher)
Research
My research departs from a broad view of entrepreneurship, namely, entrepreneurship as a value-creating process and practice that can take place across society. I am particularly interested in entrepreneurship as a societal force in rural areas and initiatives striving for socio-ecological transition. Methodologically, I prefer to work ethnographically and be out in the field.
In my writing, I primarily draw on ideas and concepts from continental philosophy. A recurring theme in my writing and thinking is freedom and responsibility. For example, my dissertation, Infinitely Demanding Entrepreneurship, is an ethnographically inspired study in which I use the philosopher Simon Critchley’s concepts of freedom and responsibility to analyze the social initiative “IKEA’s partnership with social entrepreneurs.” For my thesis, Infinitely Demanding Entrepreneurship, I received the Oskar Sillén Prize (2018), awarded annually to Sweden’s best doctoral thesis in business administration. The dissertation can be found further down the page as a PDF.
From January 2021 to December 2023, I held the Wallander Scholarship. I am currently participating in the research project InKuiS (Innovative Cultural Entrepreneurship in Collaborative Research), where I study Virserum Konsthall and its challenges and opportunities for collaboration in rural areas.
I review manuscripts for journals such as Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, and Culture & Organization. I also serve as the review editor for the open-access journal Art, Culture & Entrepreneurship.
Over the years, I have participated in the following research projects:
- Public Entrepreneurship, 2009–2011 (project coordinator)
- The Bridge – a collaboration between Linnaeus University and IKEA, 2012–2018 (doctoral student)
- LEIS – Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Småland, 2020–2023 (researcher)
- FLIARA – Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas, 2024–2025 (researcher)
- InKuiS – Innovative Cultural Entrepreneurship in Collaborative Research, 2024–ongoing (researcher)
Read more about my research (only in Swedish)
Vi behöver försöka tänka nytt kring hur vi vill leva våra liv
Hängivet entreprenörskap bakom lyckat hållbarhetsarbete
Lyssna – om klimat i gränslandet mellan kunskap och känslor
Entreprenörskap för socio-ekologisk omställning på landsbygden
Prisad forskare tror på skrattets kraft
We are accredited
The School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB. Only 6 percent of the world’s leading business schools achieve this accreditation, making us one of a few schools that are trailblasers in teaching, research, and societal impact.
My research groups
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Art, Culture and Entrepreneurship At a time when art and culture increasingly are subjected to market conditions, entrepreneurship has become a force to be reckoned with in society, not only as a…
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Centre for Leadership in Småland All companies, public organisations and non-profit associations need to work on renewing their operations. Leaders therefore need to create and develop the…
My ongoing research projects
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Project: FLIARA – Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas FLIARA is a Horizon2020 project with 15 partners across Europe. In our project, we will elevate innovative women, as well as…
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Project: InKuiS – Innovative Cultural Entrepreneurship in Collaborative Co-creative Research Thinking and acting entrepreneurially requires creativity, innovation, and an ability to take existing…
Publications
Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
- Karlsson, M. (2018). Infinitely Demanding Entrepreneurship. Doctoral Thesis. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 356.
Article in journal (Refereed)
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Karlsson, M. (2026). Ethical subjectivity at work : ethical experience and faithless faith. Culture and Organization. 1-21.
Status: Epub ahead of print -
Karlsson, M. (2025). Reimagining ‘entrepreneuring as emancipation’ as a broader struggle for a freer life. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. 37 (1-2). 113-133.
Status: Published -
Karlsson, M. (2025). Tragedy in organizational ethnography : radical critique and transformative experience. Journal of Organizational Ethnography. 14 (3). 457-478.
Status: Published -
Karlsson, M. (2022). In pursuit of ignorant university teachers and intellectually emancipated students. Culture and Organization. 28 (3-4). 194-215.
Status: Published
Article in journal (Other academic)
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Bjerke, B., Karlsson, M. (2013). Why are some people behaving or acting entrepreneurially more than others? : Looking at opportunities as part of entrepreneurial behavior or action in more than one way. Journal of Business and Economics. 4 (6). 465-474.
Status: Published
Book (Other academic)
- Bjerke, B., Karlsson, M. (2013). Social entrepreneurship : to act as if and make a difference. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Bjerke, B., Karlsson, M. (2011). Samhällsentreprenör : att inte bara vara och agera som om. Malmö, Big Bad Books.
Chapter in book (Other academic)
- Karlsson, M. (2023). Posthumanistiskt ledarskap och ett experimenterande med verkligheten. Ledarskap på småländska : Utmaningar och engagemang i brytningstid. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 197-205.
- Jogmark, M., Kalonaityte, V., Karlsson, M. (2023). Det omänskliga ledarskapet?. Ledarskap på småländska : Utmaningar och engagemang i brytningstid. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 177-179.
- Jogmark, M., Kalonaityte, V., Karlsson, M. (2023). Flyktlinjer : vart är vi på väg och vilka vill vi bli?. Ledarskap på småländska : Utmaningar och engagemang i brytningstid. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 207-213.
- Karlsson, M. (2023). Att fästa blicken : en berättelse om meningsfullt ledarskap. Ledarskap på småländska : Utmaningar och engagemang i brytningstid. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 143-153.
- Karlsson, M. (2022). En alternativ väg : Smart Village som ekologisk bråkmakare, glädjedödare och möjliggörare. Förnyelse på småländska : Berättelser om utvecklingsarbete i vardagen. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 151-155.
- Jogmark, M., Karlsson, M., Rosenlund, J., Tillmar, M. (2022). Entreprenörskap för socio-ekologisk omställning på landsbygden. Förnyelse på småländska : Berättelser om utvecklingsarbete i vardagen. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 130-133.
- Jogmark, M., Karlsson, M., Rosenlund, J., Tillmar, M. (2022). Reflektioner kring vägar och vägval för socio-ekologisk omställning. Förnyelse på småländska : Berättelser om utvecklingsarbete i vardagen. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 156-162.
Conference paper (Other academic)
- Karlsson, M. (2016). The Practices and Power of Legitimizing Entrepreneurship in an MNC? : Subverting and Reinforcing ‘Business as Usual’. Paper presented at the 6th Latin American and European Meeting on Organization Studies, Viña del Mar, Chile, April 6–9, 2016.
- Karlsson, M. (2015). In search of the limits and possibilities of practicing responsibility and reflexivity in multi-sited ethnography. Paper presented at the 31st EGOS colloquium - Organizations and the Examined Life: Reason, Reflexivity and Responsibility, Athens, Greece, July 2–4, 2015 : Sub-theme 15.
- Karlsson, M., Taalas, S.L. (2015). Social Entrepreneurship Breaking Bad : Reflexive creative subjectivity of 'Friendly Rebels'. Paper presented at the 10th OS Summer Workshop 2015: Organizational Creativity, Play and Entrepreneurship, Chania, Crete, Greece, May 21–23, 2015.
- Karlsson, M. (2014). Dynamics of mosaic tensions that construct the alternative organising form – (corporate) social entrepreneuring. .
- Karlsson, M. (2013). Social entrepreneuring: a move forward through a glance backwards. 22nd Nordic Academy of Management Conference held in University of Iceland Reykjavík 21-23 August 2013. On Practice and Knowledge eruptions. (USB).
- Bjerke, B., Karlsson, M. (2010). On the importance of public entrepreneurs to local governments. Proceedings of the ResearchSymposium on Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Boston, MA.
Other (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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Roos, A., Alexandersson, A., Karlsson, M. (2025). Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas in Sweden : Insights from the FLIARA Project. Växjö, Sweden, Linnaeus University.
En booklet på 34 sidor med inledning och 20 stycken faktablad.
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