Reconstructing Social Enterprise
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
November 10, 2012
End Date
December 10, 2013
Status
completed
Keywords
social enterprise
critique
critical theory
myth
empiricism
power
transgression
normative
Description
The idea for the seminar series came from discussion between researchers and social enterprise practitioners concerned at what they saw as a reality gap between the idealised notion of social enterprise presented in academic and policy literature, and the day to struggles of those practising social enterprise.
Social enterprise (SE) broadly defined as market based approaches to tackling social problems (Kerlin, 2006) has receive much policy, practitioner and academic attention in recent years. However the evidence base upon which policy support relies is at best shaky. The lack of thorough empirical research and the paucity of critical work poses a problem to understanding SE's 'transformative and regenerative potential (Cukier et al., 2011), and its role in developing an alternative, more inclusive model of society quite generally (Craig and Porter, 2006).
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The overall aim of this seminar series is to build an international community of academic researchers, policy makers and practitioners which seeks to advance critical research into SE. The broad objectives within this are:
1. To bring together academics from different disciplines and countries who are researching SE from a critical perspective
2. To make critical research accessible to and useful for practitioners and policy makers
3. To engage practitioners and policy makers in developing research
4. To develop an internationally focused critical research agenda around SE and democratic renewal
5. To relate the insights derived from our research to Critical Management Studies so as to contribute to extending its area of application from the corporate sphere to the domain of civil society
We acknowledge that critical research on SE has been largely inaccessible to practitioners and policy makers, in part because it is published in journals not accessible to those outside of academia, but also because the language of much critical research is equally inaccessible to practitioners. The ultimate yardstick of our seminar series is to develop critical knowledge and models not only based on the view of practitioners but with and for them.
We thus aim to develop a future research agenda informed by, accessible to and useful for practitioners and policy makers. Such a participatory model of exchange will allow for a more nuanced perspective of SE, including how SE can contribute to social cohesion, civil and civic engagement, and how it makes for democratic renewal which recognises differences of size, culture, geography and politics.
SEMINAR CONTENT
Given that critical inquiry draws upon a range of approaches our seminar series invokes those already employed in the field of SE research. On the most elementary level this comprises collating further the evidence base on SE so as to bring into view not only its promise but also its dangers and limitations. On a more explicitly critical note, we invoke different perspectives from Critical Theory and Organization Studies to construe SE as a new language whose meaning has shifted away from the radical discourse of democratic renewal espoused by practitioners in the late 20th Century (Teasdale, 2012), and been captured by policy makers and elites espousing a withdrawal of the state from the direct delivery of public services and the marketisation of those (civic) areas of life traditionally predicated upon self-help and mutual aid (Dey, 2011).
The first two seminars involve the deconstruction of the dominant SE discourse by demonstrating how prevailing forms of thinking impose certain limits to our understanding of SE. First, we draw upon a range of academic research and practitioner experiences to delineate the political and ideological 'making' of SE. Second, we draw upon a number of empirical reality tests (i.e. 'myth busting') to unpick taken for granted assumptions of SE.
The second half of the series begins the task of reconstructing SE in a more radical and democratic light. Our third seminar explores the use of normative theory to offer a value based democratic alternative to the dominant managerial, rational choice model. The fourth seminar seeks to recast the democratic renewal of society based on the voices of SE practitioners and counter posing the language and meanings of these practitioners with dominant policy discourses.
To permit genuine exchange between theory and practice, each seminar includes presentations from practitioners operating at local and national levels, all of whom have been involved in the design of this seminar series from the start. Our final seminar, which is chiefly concerned with co-constructing a prospective critical research agenda into SE, will aim to give apt weight to practitioners' viewpoints through an innovative 'open space' format. These will be collated to develop an internationally focused research agenda around SE and democratic renewal.
Social enterprise (SE) broadly defined as market based approaches to tackling social problems (Kerlin, 2006) has receive much policy, practitioner and academic attention in recent years. However the evidence base upon which policy support relies is at best shaky. The lack of thorough empirical research and the paucity of critical work poses a problem to understanding SE's 'transformative and regenerative potential (Cukier et al., 2011), and its role in developing an alternative, more inclusive model of society quite generally (Craig and Porter, 2006).
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The overall aim of this seminar series is to build an international community of academic researchers, policy makers and practitioners which seeks to advance critical research into SE. The broad objectives within this are:
1. To bring together academics from different disciplines and countries who are researching SE from a critical perspective
2. To make critical research accessible to and useful for practitioners and policy makers
3. To engage practitioners and policy makers in developing research
4. To develop an internationally focused critical research agenda around SE and democratic renewal
5. To relate the insights derived from our research to Critical Management Studies so as to contribute to extending its area of application from the corporate sphere to the domain of civil society
We acknowledge that critical research on SE has been largely inaccessible to practitioners and policy makers, in part because it is published in journals not accessible to those outside of academia, but also because the language of much critical research is equally inaccessible to practitioners. The ultimate yardstick of our seminar series is to develop critical knowledge and models not only based on the view of practitioners but with and for them.
We thus aim to develop a future research agenda informed by, accessible to and useful for practitioners and policy makers. Such a participatory model of exchange will allow for a more nuanced perspective of SE, including how SE can contribute to social cohesion, civil and civic engagement, and how it makes for democratic renewal which recognises differences of size, culture, geography and politics.
SEMINAR CONTENT
Given that critical inquiry draws upon a range of approaches our seminar series invokes those already employed in the field of SE research. On the most elementary level this comprises collating further the evidence base on SE so as to bring into view not only its promise but also its dangers and limitations. On a more explicitly critical note, we invoke different perspectives from Critical Theory and Organization Studies to construe SE as a new language whose meaning has shifted away from the radical discourse of democratic renewal espoused by practitioners in the late 20th Century (Teasdale, 2012), and been captured by policy makers and elites espousing a withdrawal of the state from the direct delivery of public services and the marketisation of those (civic) areas of life traditionally predicated upon self-help and mutual aid (Dey, 2011).
The first two seminars involve the deconstruction of the dominant SE discourse by demonstrating how prevailing forms of thinking impose certain limits to our understanding of SE. First, we draw upon a range of academic research and practitioner experiences to delineate the political and ideological 'making' of SE. Second, we draw upon a number of empirical reality tests (i.e. 'myth busting') to unpick taken for granted assumptions of SE.
The second half of the series begins the task of reconstructing SE in a more radical and democratic light. Our third seminar explores the use of normative theory to offer a value based democratic alternative to the dominant managerial, rational choice model. The fourth seminar seeks to recast the democratic renewal of society based on the voices of SE practitioners and counter posing the language and meanings of these practitioners with dominant policy discourses.
To permit genuine exchange between theory and practice, each seminar includes presentations from practitioners operating at local and national levels, all of whom have been involved in the design of this seminar series from the start. Our final seminar, which is chiefly concerned with co-constructing a prospective critical research agenda into SE, will aim to give apt weight to practitioners' viewpoints through an innovative 'open space' format. These will be collated to develop an internationally focused research agenda around SE and democratic renewal.
Member contributor(s)
Partner(s)
Simon Teasdale (University of Birmingham); Mike Bull (University of Manchester); Alex Nicholls (University of Oxford)
Funder
Topic(s)
social enterprise and critique
Method(s)
seminar series
Notes
Schedule
Seminar 1, November 12, 2012: Toward an Ideology Critique of Social Entrepreneurship (Hosted by the University of Northampton). This seminar develops an understanding of the political and ideological framing of SE and Social Entrepreneurship.
The critical turn in social entrepreneurship studies - Dr Pascal Dey and Professor Chris Steyaert, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
The Politics of Social Entrepreneurship - Dr Alex Nicholls, Oxford University
Social Enterprise as a smokescreen for the Privatisation of Public Services - Andy Benson, National Coalition for Independent Action
The Proselytising Think Tank: von Hayek to Social Innovation? Professor Ray Loveridge, University of Oxford
Social Entrepreneurship and the Routinization of Charisma: An Ethnographic Approach - Stefanie Mauksch, EBS University, Wiesbaden.
Seminar 2, January 9, 2013: Social Enterprise and myth busting (Hosted by the University of Surrey). This seminar draws upon research evidence to challenge some of the taken for granted assumptions around SE.
Myths of social enterprise - David Floyd, Social Spider
Unlikely bedfellows? Positivism as a form of critique in social enterprise research - Dr Simon Teasdale, University of Birmingham
Social Enterprise: A replacement for declining grants and donations? - Professor Janelle Kerlin, Georgia State University, United States
Challenging Myths about Classic Value-creation in Social Entrepreneurship: Cases from Social Firms UK - Dr Doug Foster, University of Surrey
Title TBC - Dr Leandro Sepulveda, Middlesex University
Seminar 3, March / April 2013: Normative theory and social enterprise (Hosted by the University of Birmingham). This seminar attempts to move beyond the detrimental effects of SE discourse by summoning alternative values and norms.
Re-embedding democratic principles within social enterprise - Professor Marthe Nyssens, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Associative Democracy and Social Economy - Professor Graham Smith, University of Southampton
Where's the social in social enterprise? Molly Scott Cato, Cardiff Metropolitan University
The marginalization of collective ownership - John Goodman, Co-ops UK
Seminar 4, July 2013: Critiques of transgression (Hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University). This seminar explores the contested nature of SE and aims to raise the emancipatory profile of practitioners' "little narratives' which are often marginalised by dominant discourses.
The language of social entrepreneurs - Dr Caroline Parkinson and Dr Matt Macdonald, University of Lancaster
Do social enterprise actors draw in straight lines or circles? - Mike Bull, Manchester Metropolitan University
The social enterprise mark as understood by practitioners - Dr Rory Ridley-Duff, Sheffield Business School
Manipulating dominant discourses for social purpose - Andrea Westall, Independent Consultant
How is social enterprise understood by practitioners in the homelessness field? - Gemma McKenna, PhD Student, University of Middlesex
Seminar 5, September 2013: Open Space (Hosted by Oxford University). This seminar aims to draw together the learning from the earlier seminars, and move toward a future research agenda through an innovative open space format
Learning from critical perspectives - Reverend Tim Curtis, University of Northampton
Toward a shared research agenda -Dr Alex Nicholls, Oxford University
Seminar 1, November 12, 2012: Toward an Ideology Critique of Social Entrepreneurship (Hosted by the University of Northampton). This seminar develops an understanding of the political and ideological framing of SE and Social Entrepreneurship.
The critical turn in social entrepreneurship studies - Dr Pascal Dey and Professor Chris Steyaert, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
The Politics of Social Entrepreneurship - Dr Alex Nicholls, Oxford University
Social Enterprise as a smokescreen for the Privatisation of Public Services - Andy Benson, National Coalition for Independent Action
The Proselytising Think Tank: von Hayek to Social Innovation? Professor Ray Loveridge, University of Oxford
Social Entrepreneurship and the Routinization of Charisma: An Ethnographic Approach - Stefanie Mauksch, EBS University, Wiesbaden.
Seminar 2, January 9, 2013: Social Enterprise and myth busting (Hosted by the University of Surrey). This seminar draws upon research evidence to challenge some of the taken for granted assumptions around SE.
Myths of social enterprise - David Floyd, Social Spider
Unlikely bedfellows? Positivism as a form of critique in social enterprise research - Dr Simon Teasdale, University of Birmingham
Social Enterprise: A replacement for declining grants and donations? - Professor Janelle Kerlin, Georgia State University, United States
Challenging Myths about Classic Value-creation in Social Entrepreneurship: Cases from Social Firms UK - Dr Doug Foster, University of Surrey
Title TBC - Dr Leandro Sepulveda, Middlesex University
Seminar 3, March / April 2013: Normative theory and social enterprise (Hosted by the University of Birmingham). This seminar attempts to move beyond the detrimental effects of SE discourse by summoning alternative values and norms.
Re-embedding democratic principles within social enterprise - Professor Marthe Nyssens, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Associative Democracy and Social Economy - Professor Graham Smith, University of Southampton
Where's the social in social enterprise? Molly Scott Cato, Cardiff Metropolitan University
The marginalization of collective ownership - John Goodman, Co-ops UK
Seminar 4, July 2013: Critiques of transgression (Hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University). This seminar explores the contested nature of SE and aims to raise the emancipatory profile of practitioners' "little narratives' which are often marginalised by dominant discourses.
The language of social entrepreneurs - Dr Caroline Parkinson and Dr Matt Macdonald, University of Lancaster
Do social enterprise actors draw in straight lines or circles? - Mike Bull, Manchester Metropolitan University
The social enterprise mark as understood by practitioners - Dr Rory Ridley-Duff, Sheffield Business School
Manipulating dominant discourses for social purpose - Andrea Westall, Independent Consultant
How is social enterprise understood by practitioners in the homelessness field? - Gemma McKenna, PhD Student, University of Middlesex
Seminar 5, September 2013: Open Space (Hosted by Oxford University). This seminar aims to draw together the learning from the earlier seminars, and move toward a future research agenda through an innovative open space format
Learning from critical perspectives - Reverend Tim Curtis, University of Northampton
Toward a shared research agenda -Dr Alex Nicholls, Oxford University
Range
HSG Internal
Range (De)
HSG Intern
Division(s)
Eprints ID
219477