Many of our members have already published their work in Routledge’s Social Enterprise and Social Innovation Series, which is open to all researchers working in these broad research areas. Since its inception, the Series has been shaped by leading scholars in the field. Initially edited by Jacques Defourny, Lars Hulgård, and Rocío Nogales-Muriel, the editorial team now includes Frédéric Dufays and Sílvia Ferreira, alongside Rocío Nogales-Muriel. Together, they continue to expand the Series’ international reach and academic depth.

Today, we wanted to dedicate a post to delve into the aim of this Series and encourage interested readers to contribute their submissions for its continued consolidation.

Over the past 40 years, in parallel to the shift in the institutional framework for social protection in advanced industrialized countries, social innovation, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship have gradually become à la mode.  They are interpreted in policy documents in market-economic terms, making social enterprises a valuable partner for policy makers looking for ways of bringing the excluded back into society and increasing social cohesion. By moving from a universal to a selective approach to the delivery of public benefits, the traditional welfare state has welcomed private institutional actors that promote labour force participation and individual responsibility. While inequality among citizens continues to rise, policy priorities focus on removing barriers for citizens wishing become successful social entrepreneurs (both individual and collective). However, balancing advocacy, active citizenship and empowerment, on the one hand, and market-based social service delivery and innovation in a sustainable manner on the other, represents a daunting challenge.

And yet, social enterprises and other types of third sector initiatives are expected to become a replacement for the public responsibility for welfare. In this context, social innovation is conceived as creative solutions to existing wicked social problems both at concrete outcome and process levels; and social enterprises are heralded as vehicles for such societal improvement. Beyond the normative dimension that characterizes superficial approaches to social innovation, its relationship with social enterprises and social entrepreneurship remains to be described and systematized. Moreover, the paradox is that social innovation, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship are not solely elements in a process of privatization, but also manifestations of the power of a more human economy based on solidarity. Thus, another scenario towards the emergence of new forms of solidarity and collectivism is equally important as the marketization trend to understand the background for the current enthusiasm for the social economy, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship. Therefore, the Series invites contributions that are committed to understand the complexity of these transformations by engaging in new South-North dialogues and incorporating the contributions of the solidarity economy, the new commons and the collaborative economy to knowledge about the foundations of a plural economy as well as more specifically to social innovation and social enterprise.

With over 15 titles, many authored by EMES members worldwide, the Series remains an essential resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Explore the full collection [here], including several open-access volumes emerging from the ICSEM project many of them are available in open access.

Visit the EMES dedicated page for the Routledge Series on Social Enterprise and Social Innovation here.