Soci(et)al Entrepreneurship and Different Forms of Social Enterprise

Abstract

For many years there has been discussion about the definitions and issues at stake in entrepreneurship research. Adding a social or societal element does little to clarify matters, even in the emerging field of social or societal entrepreneurship and social enterprises. In this chapter, the use of these conceptualizations in theory as well as practice, is elaborated on primarily in a Swedish setting; however, as we will see, similar expressions are just as relevant in other countries. The aim here is to chart this emerging field with an eye to the critical discussions of tensions and priorities.

From feminism to FemInc.ism: On the uneasy relationship between feminism, entrepreneurship and the Nordic welfare state

“…Activists and femocrats cooperated with feminist scholars from all fields of the social sciences, who contributed with much-needed knowledge, to aid policy development (Kantola and Outshoorn 2007). One might say that women in the Nordic states engaged in social entrepreneurship through the public sector when they contributed to the establishment of the Nordic welfare state (Gawell 2014). This observation lies in sharp contrast to the situation found in the Anglo-Saxon countries, which dominate the research field on women's entrepreneurship (Jennings and Brush 2013).…”

Social Enterprise: A Study of Its Prevalence, Role and Characteristics in Swedish‐Speaking Regions of Finland

“…Future research could focus on municipalities of different sizes, to provide new knowledge on how the size may influence SEs and their operations. Future research could thus dig deeper into the concept of societal entrepreneurship or community entrepreneurship that relates to the public good primarily in the sense of local small business and economic development ‘for the village’ or ‘for the region’ (Gawell ). The municipalities (and the surrounding regions) represented by this survey’s respondents were, however, quite strongly Swedish‐speaking.…”

“…According to Mair and Martí (), the main difference between social and traditional commercial entrepreneurship is not that such entrepreneurship would be a‐social, but that social entrepreneurs prioritise the creation of social value. The concept of ‘societal entrepreneurship’ has been elaborated to refer to local development ‘for the village’ or ‘for the region’; community entrepreneurship that relates to the public good primarily in the sense of local small business and economic development (Gawell ). In this paper, the concept of SE is used as the more commonly known concept, but with an emphasis on the regional and community aspects.…”

Idrott som medel – inte som mål : Förutsättningar för socialt entreprenörskap inom idrotten

“…För det tredje uppstår konflikter då socialt entreprenörskap avser verksamheter som på något sätt är nydanande och innovativa med målsättning att förändra samhället. För allt som är nytt konkurrerar med och utmanar på något sätt det "gamla" och traditionella (Gawell, 2014b), vilket är en tanke som kan spåras tillbaka till Schumpeters (1934) begrepp "kreativ förstörelse". Figur 1.…”