Short description:

Social entrepreneurship and social enterprises share the potential to make a difference for people and societies. The Nordic countries represent an interesting case. In this book the editors demonstrate how the leading narratives and discourses that has shaped the Nordic societies, also shape the narratives of social entrepreneur ship and social enterprises.

Long description:

Migrant women stepping into ethnic catering; homeless men employed to take care of bees producing honey for sale; young people on the edge getting microcredit funding to start social businesses; or former criminals joining forces to create social and economic structures for an honest lifestyle. These initiatives capture the transformative power of social enterprise and might indicate how social enterprises have the potential to make a difference for people and societies. The Nordic countries represent an interesting case. Social enterprises and co-operatives played a significant part in paving the way for the Nordic solicaristic welfare state.

As the welfare state grew, civil society organizations and co-operatives lost ground, to a certain extent. But in recent decades, the welfare state has been restructured and, simultaneously, the concepts social entrepreneurship and social enterprises have gained attention. The Nordic context, with extensive public welfare structures and a high degree of citizens? participation in public affairs, might affect the emergence of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises.

Table of Contents:

1. Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises in the Nordics: Narratives Emerging From Social Movements and Welfare Dynamics
Linda Lundgaard Andersen, Malin Gawell, and Roger Spear

2. Social Entrepreneurship Demolition of the Welfare State or an Arena for Solidarity?
Linda Lundgaard Andersen and Lars Hulg?rd

3. Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises: Chameleons through Times and Values
Malin Gawell

4. Evolution of the Social Enterprise Concept in Finland
Harri Kostilainen and Pekka Pättiniemi

5. Social Enterprise as a Contested Terrain for Definitions and Practice: The Case of Norway
Hans Abraham Hauge and Tora Mathea Wasvik

6. Practicing Entrepreneuring and Citizenship: Social Venturing as a Learning Context for University Students
Bengt Johannisson

7. Employees as Social Intrapreneurs: Active Employee Participation in Social Innovation
Catharina Juul Kristensen

8. The Added Value of Social Entrepreneurship in Contemporary Social Design in Norway
Brita Fladvad Nielsen and Jonas Asheim

9. Social Entrepreneurship: Between Odysseus? Scar and Abraham?s Sacrifice
Daniel Ericsson

10. Social Entrepreneurship as Collaborative Processes in Rural Sweden
Yvonne von Friedrichs and Anders Lundström

11. Microfinance as a Case Study of Social Entrepreneurship in Norway
Unni Beate Sekkes?ter

12. Social Change Through Temporary Short-term Interventions: The Role of Legitimacy in Organizing Social Innovation
Anders Edvik and Fredrik Björk

13. Entrepreneurship Invited into the (Social) Welfare Arena
Malin Gawell, Elisabeth Sundin, and Malin Tillmar

14. Narratives of Social Enterprises: Its Construction, Contradictions and Implications in the Swedish Debate
Ulrika Levander

15. Democratic Innovations: Exploring Synergies between Three Key Post-NPM Concepts in Public Sector Reforms
Victor Pestoff