Abstract
This paper reveals one of the most critical challenges faced by Spanish social entrepreneurship: either prioritizing ethical, social and environmental objectives or profit-seeking. Social entrepreneurship (those initiatives that pursue social and environmental objectives as well as economic ones) has become a very celebrated sector welcomed by political leaders, international corporations, large financial actors and the public opinion alike. The motto that another economy is possible is gaining momentum while an enormous number and variety of both public and private promotional programs are fostering and energizing such promising sector in practically any spot of the world. However, unlike more conventional enterprises, social entrepreneurship face some crucial challenges due to its own hybrid nature and the goal of making philanthropy (i.e., ensuring the social and environmental values) compatible with profit. A mixed-methods oriented research conducted in Catalonia (Spain) reveals some of these contradictions and challenges. As concluding remarks, we provide some clues to reconsider the scope of social entrepreneurship under a different political economy framework.
Highlights
According to Eyal Halamish, co-CEO of the social media firm OurSay, “a social enterprise is a failed business (...) once it becomes profitable, it’s just a good enterprise”
This paper has described the fundamental features of social entrepreneurship in Catalonia, Spain
The research used a mixed methods approach and a critical perspective based on the current sociology of work and entrepreneurship
Summary
According to Eyal Halamish, co-CEO of the social media firm OurSay, “a social enterprise is a failed business (...) once it becomes profitable, it’s just a good enterprise” (quoted in [1]). The field of SE is enthusiastically presented as a true revolution within the wider capitalist system, which will overcome the antiquated welfare state [8] and will contribute, through its portentous sharing economy, to creating a double value: both economic and social (Porter & Kramer, 2011, quoted in [9]). Not surprisingly, this sector is vigorously promoted by public administrations, private institutions, and international business schools alike. The latter, lead theorizing about this “new” field [4] [6], trying to transfer their savoir faire from the world of commercial activity to the new sector [10] [11] [12]
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