The Startup: Critical Perspectives on Technology Entrepreneurship and Digital Labor

Authors

• Kochav Koren, Duquesne UniversityFollow

Peer Reviewed

1

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

8-1-2026

Publication Title

Encyclopedia of Communication and Media Studies

Volume

1

Issue

1

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Primary Author Department

Rhetoric and Communication Department

Abstract

Communication and media studies are rapidly reshaped by socio-technological forces within the framework of informational capitalism, where startups emerge as key drivers of the global creative economy. This study critically examines the global startup movement through political economy, classical sociology, and Southern perspectives to assess whether digital entrepreneurship fosters genuine, decentralized innovation or perpetuates speculative financialization and labor precarity. Employing a multi-layered theoretical framework—including Schumpeterian creative destruction, Marxist commodity fetishism, and Weberian charismatic authority—and qualitative fieldwork across North and Latin American tech hubs, the analysis reveals startups as network enterprises that both disrupt markets and reproduce structural inequalities. The findings highlight the complex interplay between innovation, financial valuation, and labor dynamics, offering nuanced insights into the political and economic dimensions of digital media and innovation ecosystems.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Repository Citation

Koren, Kochav (2026). "Startup Ecosystems & Informational Capitalism." Encyclopedia of Communication and Media Studies, edited by Alexandre M. Pereira Figueiredo, IGI Global Scientific Publishing [Preprint at: Duquesne University Digital Commons].