Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises Nordic Perspectives

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.

1. Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises in the Nordics: Narratives Emerging From Social Movements and Welfare DynamicsLinda 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 Hulgård 3. Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises: Chameleons through Times and ValuesMalin Gawell 4. Evolution of the Social Enterprise Concept in FinlandHarri Kostilainen and Pekka Pättiniemi 5. Social Enterprise as a Contested Terrain for Definitions and Practice: The Case of NorwayHans Abraham Hauge and Tora Mathea Wasvik 6. Practicing Entrepreneuring and Citizenship: Social Venturing as a Learning Context for University StudentsBengt Johannisson 7. Employees as Social Intrapreneurs: Active Employee Participation in Social InnovationCatharina Juul Kristensen 8. The Added Value of Social Entrepreneurship in Contemporary Social Design in NorwayBrita Fladvad Nielsen and Jonas Asheim 9. Social Entrepreneurship: Between Odysseus’ Scar and Abraham’s SacrificeDaniel Ericsson 10. Social Entrepreneurship as Collaborative Processes in Rural SwedenYvonne von Friedrichs and Anders Lundström 11. Microfinance as a Case Study of Social Entrepreneurship in Norway Unni Beate Sekkesæter 12. Social Change Through Temporary Short-term Interventions: The Role of Legitimacy in Organizing Social InnovationAnders Edvik and Fredrik Björk 13. Entrepreneurship Invited into the (Social) Welfare ArenaMalin Gawell, Elisabeth Sundin, and Malin Tillmar 14. Narratives of Social Enterprises: Its Construction, Contradictions and Implications in the Swedish DebateUlrika Levander 15. Democratic Innovations: Exploring Synergies between Three Key Post-NPM Concepts in Public Sector ReformsVictor Pestoff

Linda Lundgaard Andersen is a Professor in Learning, Evaluation and Social Innovation at Roskilde University, Denmark. Malin Gawell is an Associate Professor in Business Administration at Södertörn University, Sweden. Roger Spear is a Professor of Social Entrepreneurshipteaching Organizational Systems and Research Methods at the Open University, UK.