1st Edition
Social Enterprise At the Crossroads of Market, Public Policies and Civil Society
In one of its previous books, the EMES European Research Network traced the most significant developments in 'social entrepreneurship' emerging inside the third sector in Europe. Building upon that seminal work, this volume presents the results of an extensive research project carried out over a four-year period of a comparative analysis of 160 social enterprises across eleven EU countries.
It breaks new ground in both its articulation of multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks and its rigorous analysis of empirical evidence based on a homogenized data collection methodology.
Looking at work intergration, it is structured around a number of key themes (multiple goals and multiple stakeholders, multiple resources, trajectories of workers, public policies) developed through a transversal European analysis, and is illustrated with short country experiences that reflect the diversity of welfare models across Europe.
With contributions from an impressive list of academics, all members of the EMES European Research Network, this rich follow-up volume to The Emergence of Social Enterprise is essential reading for academics, researchers and students in the fields of the third sector and social policies.
Chapter 1
Multiple Goals and Multiple Stakeholder Structure: The Governance of Social Enterprises
Jacques Defourny (+/- 25 pages, 9 tables)
On the basis of the data collected, this chapter analyses multi-stakeholder and multiple-goal structures in Social Enterprises (SEs); it aims at enlightening the specific objectives pursued by a particular type of Social Enterprises (namely WISEs) and the role played within them by the involvement of stakeholders. We consider the multiple-goal aspect, providing some theoretical elements useful to interpret its origins and its differentiating potential. Some elements from the economic and organizational literature on multi-stakeholder topics are proposed to develop a functional framework to interpret the data collected. An analysis about the interpretative potential of SE theory and some suggestions are made for future research needs to better understand and interpret the reality of European WISEs and, more generally, SEs.
Danish Social Enterprises: A Public – Third Sector Partnership
Lars Hulgaard (+/- 10 pages, 7 tables)
Danish SEs are both similar to and different from other European countries' SEs. On the one hand, they are similar to the "general" European picture of social enterprises as organisations "strongly embedded in the associative or co-operative world, despite their strong entrepreneurial component"; this is also the case in Denmark, where most SEs in the sample are founded by local actors, often in close co-operation with third sector organizations. On the other hand, however, many Danish SEs are different from the picture of pure cooperatives or third sector organizations: although formally autonomous, they are under pressure from public authorities, which often can and will determine the objectives of the enterprise.
French Social Enterprises: A Common Ethics for a Management Balancing the Various Objectives
Elisabetta Bucolo (+/- 10 pages, 1 table)
Balancing the social, economic and lobbying goals requires a specific type of management. As a matter of fact, the main goal – i.e. the work-integration of the disadvantaged workers – has to be managed while simultaneously ensuring the economic viability of the WISE. In order to make this possible, there must be a common ethics of reference behind all the actions undertaken, from the origins of the structures. Taking this into account, one understands better why WISEs rank the work-integration of the disadvantaged workers as their priority goal, whereas the production of goods and services and lobbying are rather necessary means for giving back their dignity to the workers. Internal operational modes as well as the way in which each SE structures its external networks of relations and territorial embeddedness are deeply influenced by these values of reference.
Italian social coops: How to balance goals? Social cohesion vs. labour market integration Monica Loss and Carlo Borzaga (+/- 10 pages)
Over the years, the role of the social co-operatives has changed from supporting public social services, committed to the integration of disadvantaged people, to gaining an increasing autonomy in the definition of the goals pursued. This process was favoured by the coming into force of the national legislation regulating social co-operatives, but also by an outstanding development of entrepreneurial behaviours and practices. The present contribution explores the evolution of the social co-operative movement in terms of organisational forms. The role played by public policies, in the balance between labour market and social policies is singled out.
Chapter 2: The Key Role of Social Capital for Social Entrepreneurship
Lars Hulgaard and Roger Spear
The more or less institutionalised sustainable networks which link various – individual or collective - actors by mutual trust relations constitute
Biography
Marthe Nyssens is a professor at the Department of Economics of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where she is the co-ordinator of a research team on third sector and social policies (CERISIS). All the contributors are members of the EMES research network.
This is a vital text, written at a time when Europe is in search of its future. Social enterprises represent a decisive tool in that they combine development and social protection for all citizens. Understanding the characteristics, the dynamics and the potential of social enterprise is therefore vital in order to pave the way for their full acceptance.
Felice Scalvini
