Rural social enterprises in Europe: A systematic literature review

Abstract

There is a growing perception that social enterprises represent a significant solution to the range of contemporary challenges facing rural areas across Europe. However, while much of the existing studies of European rural social enterprises provide a rich insight into specific case studies, as of yet, there is no comprehensive review of the breadth of research currently published on rural social enterprises in Europe. We respond to this gap by providing a systematic literature review incorporating 66 studies of rural social enterprise in Europe. We highlight the range of research in this field and demonstrate how the organisations act as key actors in fulfilling needs of rural areas that are not met otherwise. This systematic literature review confirms that rural social enterprises are characterised by strong local involvement with an ability to combine different goals and resources. Based on this review, we suggest that the rural and local contexts, often combined with tailored external support, are important factors in enabling rural social enterprises. This review also indicates that the academic field is relatively young and rapidly growing, leaving room for new lines of potential research to improve our understanding of these enterprises and their contribution to the development of rural places.

A Substantive View of Social Enterprises as Neo-endogenous Rural Development Actors

“…When compared to urban social enterprises, research has pointed towards an inextricable linkage between social enterprises operating in rural areas and their context (Smith & McColl, 2016 ). This linkage concurs with the strong local focus presented by these organisations, which primarily exists to meet otherwise not satisfied needs of the local population or some vulnerable groups within it (van Twuijver et al, 2020 ). This strong local focus is also reflected in the dependence of rural social enterprises on the collective involvement of the local population in the governance and activities of the enterprise (Healey, 2015 ).…”

“…Rural areas have demonstrated to be a fertile ground for social enterprises (CEIS 2019 ; van Twuijver et al, 2020 ). Among the factors that have contributed to this density of social enterprises in rural areas, some can be related to a tradition of mutual self-help, community engagement, density of social networks and entrepreneurial character within rural areas (Bosworth & Atterton, 2012 ; Steinerowski & Steinerowska-Streb, 2012 ), while others can be related to a scarcity of goods and/or services within these areas due to the unattractiveness of (some) rural locations for private investors looking to maximising their profits and to the consequences of neoliberal policies that have reduced the public provision of infrastructures and services from (some) rural areas in the pursuit of ‘effectiveness’ of public investment (Steiner & Teasdale, 2019 ).…”

“…Studies published on social enterprises based in European rural areas show how their characteristics, i.e. strong local focus combined with external relations; multi-stakeholder governance; social entrepreneurial and innovative character, and objective to contribute to integrated development (van Twuijver et al, 2020 ); concur with the principles of the neo-endogenous approach to rural development, which stress the potential of third sector organisations as development actors within governance frameworks (Gkartzios & Lowe, 2019 ). By establishing this link, rural social enterprises are argued to be actors with great potential to contribute to (re)valorise their local territories, to connect the local with the global and/or to accommodate external forces into local tailor-made solutions (Chatzichristos et al, 2021 ; Olmedo et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Despite the increase in research published on rural social enterprises since 2010, the literature that has linked social enterprises and rural development has been mainly descriptive with great scope for theoretical development that can inform empirical research (van Twuijver et al, 2020 ). This paper presents a conceptual and methodological framework to study this increasingly relevant phenomenon.…”

Actors in Social Agriculture Cooperatives Combating Organized Crime in Southern Italy: Cultivating the Ground

“…There is a high interest regarding the role of social and solidarity economy in creating social, economic, and ecological development, especially in marginal rural territories that lack public and economic structures. Despite the relevance of the actors of these diverse economies as promoters of rural change and development, there is still a lack of empirical evidence related to the capacity of such enterprises to improve the situation of marginal areas [6].…”