Social entrepreneurship and the mobilisation of social capital in European social enterprises

Spear, Roger and Hulgard, Lars (2006). Social entrepreneurship and the mobilisation of social capital in European social enterprises. In: Nyssens, Marthe ed. Social Enterprise: At the crossroads of market, public policies and civil society. Routledge studies in the management of voluntary and non-profit organizations. Oxford, UK: Routledge, pp. 85–108.

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Abstract

During the last two decades, starting in the mid 1980s, a remarkable connection between features usually considered as belonging to the sphere of civil society and characteristics usually related to market economics has evolved as a trend in the not-for-profit sector: the emergence of social entrepreneurship. Concepts and understandings related to social science all of a sudden ended up inter-twined with the vocabulary of market economics: 'entrepreneurship', 'innovation', 'capital'... Social entrepreneurs, it is said, are equivalents of business entrepreneurs 'but they operate in the social, not-for-profit sector, building "something from nothing" and seeking new and innovative solutions to social problems'.