Revisiting Nashoba: Slavery, Utopia, and Frances Wright in America, 1818–1826

Bederman, Gail

doi:10.1007/978-1-137-06439-4_5

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…She also criticized the free press as a male-centered institution that excluded women. Wright had a wide-ranging sense of the opportunities available to Americans that could also serve as denominations of value in a social enterprise context (Bederman, 2005).…”

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They chose this site based on input from Andrew Jackson concerning the presence of plantations and also the regulatory environment in Tennessee. It was a relatively liberal state regarding slavery and had multiple communities that shared Nashoba’s values (Bederman, 2005). It also had large areas of public land that could accommodate the growth of the Nashoba’s agricultural operations.…”

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pitch implied a transitional model for society. His objective was more general, and it entailed “deposing an ignorant, selfish system” and embracing a “new and enlightened social system” that was “in harmony” with commercial and social human interests (Bederman, 2005). Owen’s vision inspired Wright.…”

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It gave them something to communicate to their constituencies and the general population. For Nashoba, its core operation continued to reflect the original enterprise charter that was articulated in Wright’s essay (Bederman, 2005). However, as quickly as the political support had come to Nashoba, Wright knew from Lafayette that it could erode.…”

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social enterprise in Antebellum America: the case of Nashoba (1824-1829)

Murphy

Smothers

Novičević

et al. 2018

JMH

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Purpose This paper examines the case of Nashoba, a Tennessee-based social enterprise founded in 1824 by Scottish immigrant Frances Wright. The Nashoba venture intended to diminish the institution of slavery in the USA through entrepreneurial activity over its five years of operation. Design/methodology/approach This study methodology entailed mining primary source data from Wright’s letters; communications with her cofounders and contemporaries; and documentations of enterprise operations. The authors examined these data using social enterprise theory with a focus on personal identity and time-laden empirical aspects not captured by traditional methodologies. Findings The social enterprise concept of a single, self-sustaining model generating more than one denomination of value in a blended form has a deeper history than the literature acknowledges. As an entrepreneur, Wright made strategic decisions in a context of supply-side and demand-side threats to the venture. The social enterprise engaged injustice by going beyond market and state contexts to generate impact in the realms of institutions and non-excludable public goods. Research limitations/implications This study generates two formal implications for the development of new research questions in social enterprise studies. The first implication addresses the relation between social entrepreneurs and their constituencies. The second implication pertains to the effects of macro-level education, awareness and politics on social enterprise performance and impact. The implications herald new insights in social enterprise, such as the limits of moral conviction and the importance of social disruption. Originality/value This paper broadens the current understanding of how social enterprises redress unjust and unethical institutions. It also contributes new insights into social enterprise launch and growth based on shared values within communities and coordinated strategic intentions across communities.

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Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Frances Wright and Nashobamentioning

confidence: 99%

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