Understanding Social Enterprise: Theory and Practice (co-authored with Mike Bull)

“This book invites students, academics and practitioners to develop a critical understanding of social enterprise through an exploration of the relationship between theory and practice. Over the last decade, this new term – and the related concept of social entrepreneurship – has reached an increasing audience. Social enterprise is being used by growing numbers of activists, entrepreneurs, organisations and government officials as an umbrella term for any form of organisation that innovates or trades for a social purpose. In some cases, the results have been so spectacular and on such a scale that politicians of all shades, from all corners of the world, are taking an interest in how social enterprise might offer new trajectories for engaging ‘more-than-profit’ and ‘non-profit’ organisations in their own aspirations for social change.

This growing popularity, paradoxically, also presents a significant challenge. As authors, we will argue that the concept evolved in the EU within a fairly close-knit community of ‘activist’ businesses and regional support networks, while in the US it evolved out of concern that philanthropic ventures should be sustainable over the longer term. Whilst adopting a range of approaches, these early initiatives shared a commitment to developing trading relationships that promoted social democracy and financial equity across society. With the formation of support agencies around the globe, the seductive appeal of the term ‘social enterprise’ became a way for many more people (governments, charities, voluntary groups, environmental organisations and ‘social businesses’) to articulate an alternative to profit-maximising private enterprise. As a result, many groups now use the term to describe themselves and others, with an equal number feeling unsettled by a perceived attack on their identity. A significant part of this book, therefore, is devoted to navigating through the confusion that has arisen as social activists, umbrella organisations and governments advance the concept while others resist changes they associate with a ‘business’ agenda.”