A geographical analysis of social enterprises: the case of Ireland

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to conduct a geographical analysis of the distribution and type of activities developed by social enterprises in rural and urban areas of Ireland. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses data of more than 4,000 social enterprises against a six-tier rural/urban typology, using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests to test six hypotheses. Findings The study shows a geographical rural–urban pattern in the distribution of social enterprises in Ireland, with a positive association between the remoteness of an area and the ratio of social enterprises, and a lack of capital-city effect related to the density of social enterprises. The analysis also shows a statistically significant geographical rural–urban pattern for the types of activities developed by social enterprises. The authors observe a positive association between the remoteness of the areas and the presence of social enterprises operating in the community and local development sector whereas the association is not significant for social enterprises developing welfare services. Research limitations/implications The paper shows the potential of using recently developed rural–urban typologies and tools such as geographical information systems for conducting geographical research on social enterprises. The findings also have implications for informing spatially sensitive policymaking on social enterprises. Originality/value The merging of a large national data set of social enterprises with geographical tools and data at subregional level contributes to the methodological advancement of the field of social enterprises, providing tools and frameworks for a nuanced and spatially sensitive analysis of these organisations.

Abdurrauf Singkel’s Insan Kamil Concept to Answer the Problem of Sexual Consent, Childfree, Nature and Nurture in Urban Society

“…The problem is the loss of human existence as servants and the loss of their nature. More specifically, this is based on the practice of modern urban society which is materialistic (Alsherfawi Aljazaerly et al, 2024;Olmedo et al, 2024;Srinivas et al, 2009a), thus directing humans to the interests of worldly life which denies their fitrah; and the practice of modern life is what gives rise to problems such as sexual consent, childfree, and nature and nurture (Daganzo, 2004;Salama & Patil, 2024). So, the idea of Insan Kamil can be a solution to the problem of feminism in which they distinguish between gender and sex.…”