The Challenge of Navigating the Double Hybridity in the Relationship between Community Enterprises and Municipalities

Guest editorial: Social enterprises and public organizations: allies of adversaries? Introduction to special issue

“…In the field of SE, which mostly seemed to be trying to grasp the essence of social entrepreneurship in relation to other ways of dealing with social problems, there was also not much interest in how SEs could relate to government and public organizations. However, based on research by Karré and Van Meerkerk (2023) in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, several potential challenges in the relationship between SEs and public organizations can be identified with regard to the following: (1) awareness and recognition, (2) funding and procurement, (3) fragmentation and (4) accountability and impact. These issues might be especially prevalent in the European context and here again in conservative-corporatist welfare states, but they are indicative of the challenges SEs face in their relationship with the public sector in general. Awareness and recognition: especially in the European context, there is a lack of awareness that SEs exist and what they are and a lack of recognition for the work they do (hence the recent activities by the European Union to change this).…”

“…But SEs also often find it hard to understand and appreciate what the government is saying and doing. This is, according to Karré and Van Meerkerk (2023), an effect of what they call “double hybridity”. Not only SEs are hybrid.…”