The concepts of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship are rapidly attracting increased attention in academic spheres and from policy-makers, as well as field workers who are setting up new initiatives or reshaping their organizations. These concepts are perceived as defining innovative and dynamic responses to major global challenges in today's societies.
The debate about social enterprise is now world-wide, with lively exchanges between American and European scholars. However, the research and landscapes still differ significantly in different regions, and diversity also exists within specific regions such as Europe. This book presents the most comprehensive set of contributions reflecting the European-wide debate, but with frequent connections to developments in other parts of the world. This book is a result of work carried out by members of the EMES International Research Network, which is a pioneer in this field.
Social Enterprise and the Third Sector will appeal to all researchers who focus on the third sector, social economy and social enterprise, to MBA and postgraduate students, as well as to intellectual social enterprise leaders and practitioners. It will soon become a key reference for all those who want to explore the full richness of these concepts and follow this important academic debate.
About the Author: Jacques Defourny is professor of third sector economics at HEC Management School, University of Liege (Belgium) where he is also a director of the Centre for Social Economy. He was a founding coordinator (1996-2001) and then the first president (2002-2010) of the EMES European Research Network. His work focuses on comparisons of social enterprise models across the world and on conceptual and quantitative analysis of the third sector both in developed as well as developing countries
Lars Hulgård is professor of social entrepreneurship at Roskilde University (RUC), Denmark. He has been the president of the EMES International Research Network since 2010, and is the chair of the research group Social Innovation and Organizational Learning. He is the founder and co-director of the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and his research interests are on the relation between civil society, the third sector and social entrepreneurship as well as the role of social enterprise in the transition of the welfare state
Victor Pestoff is a professor at the Institute for Civil Society Studies, Ersta Sköndal University College in Stockholm, Sweden. His research focuses on the political impact of third sector organizations and cooperatives and he has published more than a dozen books on such topics. He is also a founding member of the EMES International Research Network
