Hybridity and Social Entrepreneurship in Social Housing in Ireland

Abstract

In this paper we explore the nature of hybrid organisations and report on the existence over time in social housing in Ireland. We first review the literature to identify three different conceptualisations of the concept of hybridity and its relation to the study on nonprofit organisations. We then look at hybridity in social housing in Ireland over three centuries—drawing upon previous empirical research from Mullins et al. (Non-profit housing organisations in Ireland, North and South: changing forms and challenging futures. Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Belfast, 2003) and Rhodes (Public services as complex adaptive systems: a framework for theory development. Trinity College Dublin, Unpublished PhD Thesis, 2008)—to assess which of the conceptualisations is most relevant to the Irish context. We conclude that the ‘fit-for-purpose’ approach as represented by Dees and Anderson (Society 40:16–27, 2003) and explored in recent social entrepreneurship literature is most relevant to the Irish case, and suggest that this should be augmented by the argument put forth by Mullins et al. (Hous Stud 27(4):405–417, 2012) that the concept of hybridity is more analytically valuable as a dynamic process rather than a static description.