Research Area: Entrepreneurship and applied innovation
[[Reimagining Entrepreneurship in Artisanal Brewing and Craft Beer: Is the Economy going ‘back’ to the future?]]
This project will explore how craft beer and micro-breweries are changing the brewing industry and innovating products, processes and a wider paradigm of production and consumption. It will examine how the ‘craft revolution’ in brewing combines historical associations of craft as pre-industrial, skilled work, with change and novelty in beer styles, tools, and ingredients, simultaneously evoking and breaking traditional brewing methods and rules. Historically, this research will contribute to understanding how the current epoch of craft brewing connects to the broader history of beer and brewing in Britain. Organizationally, it will help us to better understand the artisanal economy more broadly, and how it is reimagining entrepreneurship and creating a different image of business to that seen on The Apprentice or Dragon’s Den.
The successful applicant will have a background in the social sciences or humanities and have experience of, or a willingness to learn about, qualitative research methods. They will be located in the School of Management, a department renowned for its qualitative research into organization and entrepreneurship. They will be jointly supervised from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The project will investigate how the craft beer industry is shaped by, and shapes, a range of factors including:
- Relationships between pubs and breweries and the impact of regulation, licencing, and lobbying on the industry.
- The use of historical imaginaries of ‘craft’ production and ‘tradition’ in the production and marketing and the design of drinking spaces.
- Work orientations and the logics of lifestyle entrepreneurship.
- The quality and content of the new craft jobs. Do these offer meaningful work and long-term career prospects?
- Producer and consumer identities, with particular attention to the role of bar-staff in educating consumers’ tastes and knowledge of products.
How to apply
To apply, you’ll need: A first class bachelor’s degree or a 2:1 bachelor’s degree and a masters at merit level or above. Equivalent awards will be considered. Qualifications must be relevant for the particular studentship you are applying for.
You can apply online via our Vice Chancellor’s PhD Studentships page (
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research/phd-studentships). Under each project description you will find a link to the application form.
Full details of the application process and the terms and conditions can also be found on the above- page
