Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is increasingly considered to be integral to development; however, social and cultural norms impact on the extent to which women in developing countries engage with, and accrue the benefits of, entrepreneurial activity. Using data collected from 49 members of a rural social enterprise in North India, we examine the relationships between social entrepreneurship, empowerment and social change. Innovative business processes that facilitated women's economic activity and at the same time complied with local social and cultural norms that constrain their agency contributed to changing the social order itself. We frame emancipatory social entrepreneurship as processes that (1) empower women and (2) contribute to changing the social order in which women are embedded.

Towards Sustainability: The Innovation Paths of Social Enterprise

“…Generally, the concept of sustainable development is involved at a time when the intention is to resolve issues which take on a broad and deep scope, such as the fight against poverty, health protection for entire populations, the reduction of social inequality, or the economic development of entire local communities. It is for this reason that a large part of the studies on the relationship between social entrepreneurship and sustainability describe the experience of initiatives in developing countries, where such issues are more likely to be deeply rooted and widespread (Haugh and Talwar ; Tobias et al. ; Pless and Appel ; Sodhi and Tang ).…”

Entrepreneurs’ Networks at Rural Market: Developing a Creative Village in the Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

“…Ecological entrepreneurs are expected to bring sustainable development to the Ukraine (Skopenko and Sagaydack, 2013). Women entrepreneurs in rural areas pursue work-life balance and women empowerment under the threat of the patriarchal family system of the Dutch or Italians (Bock, 2004;Gherardi, 2015) or the feudal society of India (Haugh and Talwar, 2016), although still located at weak positions in South Asian countries (Tambunan, 2009). The leading researcher in this area, Sasaki Masayuki, uses the term "creative villages", and shows some case studies in which entrepreneurs are successful in rural Japan (Sasaki et al, 2014).…”

Toward a realistic theory of social entrepreneurship (NGOs) grounded on microfinance research: Selling dreams to society

“…Indeed, we can say that there is some isomorphism in the narratives and that this itself raises their perceived legitimacy (Nicholls, 2010). This story telling is true also for other empowerment initiatives, which transform women's lives and then use the success stories to inspire others to join in the social enterprise (Haugh and Talwar, 2016). Clearly, they are selling the possibility of empowering the poor: a dream comes true for the actor in their story as well as a dream for other potential beneficiaries of the MFI.…”