SERNOC April 25th, 2012,

Lars Hulgård, Professor, PhDRoskilde University

Social Entrepreneurship

– an emerging alternative to mainstream market economy or a contribution to the

privatization of social responsibility?

1LH.SERNOC.25.04.2012

Georg Henrik von Wright: The Myth of Progress

De tre nyckeolorden för den stora omvältnning som markerar den moderna erans början var liberté, égalité, fraternité – frihet, jämlikhet, broderskap.(.).Vi behöver inte förkasta idealen, men vi har lärt oss att med skepsis betrakta tanken på att de skulle vära fullständigt och ömsesidigt förenliga. Av de tre slagorden är fraternité, idén om ett universellt mänskligt broderskap, det som fortfarande erbjuder ett oförbrukt hopp. I en värld på väg att enas, tack vare teknisk och industriell utveckling samt rationalisering av de sociopolitiska systemen, har kraven på solidaritet människor emellan fått nya dimensioner. Solidariteten kan inte längre begränsas till en trång krets av blodsförvanter eller gemensamma professionella intressen. Den måste överskrida alla gränser för nation, ras och religion och bli till en global ansvarskänsla (von Wright, 1993: 55)

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Structure of keynote

1. Four statements about SE

2. Definitions of SE

3. Three examples of SE

4. Social work and management as core themes

5. Two main positions

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4 statements about SE research

1. Weak theoretical foundation: no relation to classical positions: “social”, “economy”, “market”, agency”, “change”

2. A gradual move from a social movement understanding of SE to a mainstream market understanding of SE

3. The knowledge base: No general model of social entrepreneurship. Models of SE must be based on ‘local knowledge’ and traditions

4. Social entrepreneurship relies upon two core professions social work and management. None of these can be reduced in SE

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2: Definitions of social entrepreneurship

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DefinitionThe underlying drive for social

entreprenurship is to create social value, rather than personal and shareholder wealth, James Austin and Jane Wei-Skillern

Social entrepreneurship is not about starting a business or becoming more commercial. It is about finding new and better ways to create social value, Dees, Emerson and Economy

Social entrepreneurship.(.).seeks sustainable, large-scale change through pattern-breaking ideas, Light, 2006 & 2008

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Definition

• The creation of social value – Present in all definitions / Acces to ressources / empowerment/ work/

institutional capacity / social justice / livelihood

• through innovations– New approach to social challenge / problem

• produced in collaborative and participatory arenas – ’Produced with people not for people’, process as important as outcome

• that often implies an economic component– entrepreneur / stakeholders / community / livelihood

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3:

Three examples of SE

……an emerging alternative to mainstream market economy or a contribution to the privatization of

social responsibility?

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4 EXAMPLES

The Specialist People Foundation works to enable one million jobs for people with autism and similar challenges through social entrepreneurship, corporate sector engagement and a global change in mind-set

…The US market is ripe for Specialisterne. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of the USA is 310 million. Research suggests that approximately 1% (3.1 million people) have ASD, 90% of whom are unemployed

http://specialisterne.com/

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THE HIGHLANDER RESEARCH AND

EDUCATION CENTER

• founded by Myles Horton in 1932 in a rural Appalachian mountain community

• Idea / Social value: eliminating poverty and promoting genuine democratic participation for all people

Innovation: Use adult education to help individuals and groups develop their own solutions

Scope: Developed labor education programs that enabled American labor movements and, in turn, international labor movements to generate political and economic change

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THE HIGHLANDER RESEARCH AND

EDUCATION CENTER

• Developed leadership for civil rights movement (Southern Christian Leadership Committee and Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee)

• HREC’s Citizenship School model trained thousands of blacks in literacy skills in order to gain voting rights and increase participation in local communities

• Highlander was characterized by both high reach (millions of people) and high transformational impact (Sarah Alvord, ”Social Entrepreneurship”, KSG, Center for Public Leadership, 2002)

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Rosa Parks: "At Highlander I found out for the first time in my adult life that this could be a unified society . . . I gained there the strength to persevere in my work for freedom not just for blacks, but for all oppressed people."

Rosa Parks, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., former Mayor Andrew Young of Atlanta, Fanny Lou Hamer and Stokeley Carmichael were among those who attended classes or taught at the school.

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Pete Seeger: Zilphia Horton learned it when a group of strikers visited the Highland Folk School. She taught it to me.(.).I sang it to Martin Luther King just six months after he won the bus boycott in 1957.(.).The next day, driving back to Kentucky, King said, ”We Will Overcome”. That song really sticks with you doesn’t it?”

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Myles Horton: ”I wanted to know more about the effects of Bishop Grundtvig’s work. He proposed a School for Life to replace lifeless academic schooling.(.).It was important for me to learn that the older type of folk schools could be retained.(.).a five-year long burden had rolled away..(..)..

It was not only his educational ideas, but Bishop Grundtvig himself, that attracted me. I saw him as a rebel with prohpetic insights; a champion and inspirer of the poor and voiceless”.

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The journey of an idea the inter-relation between ideas, interests and institutions keep society open and alert to innovation (Max Weber)

Examples

The "Good Water Neighbors“:

raise awareness of the shared water problems of Palestinians, Jordanians, and Israelis.

identifying cross border communities and utilizing their mutual dependence on shared water resources as a basis for developing dialogue and cooperation on sustainable water management.

EcoPeace

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http://www.foeme.org/

3 EXAMPLES

All recognized as important examples of SE (Ashoka, KSG, Harvard, Skoll)Very different in size, scope and targetClear social values From medium to large scale innovationsDegree of participation variesA variety of organizational forms:

Commercial social enterprise NGOSocial Movement

4: Social work and management as core themes

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Social entrepreneurship appeals to social work and management. None of

these disciplines can be reduced

Social workers need to learn about management, supply chains and

change. Managers can not treat “social” as a residual or constant

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Relation between SW and management

For social work to practice change and entrepreneurship to recognize all parts of the supply chainto secure a broader and more sustainable

ressource baseto practice innovation and management

skillsto accept and to learn co-production

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Relation between SW and

managementFor management

to work with people not for peopleto learn and recognize the real value of ’social’ in

all it’s dimensionsto aquire skills concerning social issuesto recognize collective dimensions of

entrepreneurship to work with the potential of a plural economyto recognize the role of government and to work

with government

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5: Two positions

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PositionsMarket-centred CSR and CSI approach to

mainstream market economy (Mair, 2010)

Serving BoP with new solutions

Any entrepreneurial activity: social impact investment, CSR, CSI, social responsible investment, triple bottom line (Reich, 2011)

Creating market entry Indidual entrepreneurship

(Ashoka)

People-centred Part of an emerging

counter discourse in the sense of a participatory economy in the areas of social service and livelihood (Laville, 2010)

Social Enterprises, social economy, social movements and NGOs

Creating citizenship Collective dynamics

(EMES)23

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But in the real world, it will be very difficult to operate businesses with the two conflicting goals of profit maximization and social benefits. The executives of these hybrid businesses will gradually inch toward the profit-maximization goal, no matter how the company's mission is designed. For example, suppose we instruct the CEO of a food company to "maximize profit and make sure that poor children benefit nutritionally by providing them with high-quality meals at the lowest possible price." The CEO will be confused as to which part of the instruction is the real instruction. How will his success be judged—on the basis of the money he earns for the investors or on the basis of the social goals he achieves? M. Yunus “Creating a world without poverty – social business and the future of capitalism” 2008

The problem of hybrid social enterprises

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Thank you for your attention