Reconstructing Social Enterprise ESRC seminar series: Event 1: Toward an Ideology Critique of Social Entrepreneurship, Northampton University, November 12, 2012
Early academic research into SE derived largely from business schools and was mainly descriptive. A common format was the use of selective case study evidence to “demonstrate” the potential of this ‘new’ organisational form, and powerful stories of heroic individuals seeking to change social systems abounded. More theoretically informed work sought to explain the emergence of SE as a distinct organisational form. However, SE remains a contested concept as different authors keep using different theories to explain different entities. Though most academic work refers to the transformative potential of SE, empirical evidence supporting (or denying) such claims is notably absent. As a result, there are doubts over whether SE research depicts social reality or whether it merely mimics the politicised climate of which it is part. Aspiring to develop alternative bodies of knowledge and modes of practice, we are holding five seminars which challenge, in different ways, the current orthodoxy that SE is primarily to be seen as a value-neutral technology for solving social problems. Conceiving of critique not as negativity but as affirmative action aimed at advancing the object of inquiry, the first two seminars are devoted to deconstructive reflexivity calling into question the ostensible “naturalness” of SE. The third and fourth seminars will then be devoted to reconstructive reflexivity, addressing how the trajectory of SE can be changed via the incorporation of alternative paradigms, perspectives and values. The final seminar aims to give voice to practitioners through engaging with them in an open space format to begin to develop a SE future research agenda.
The first seminar: Toward an Ideology Critique of Social Entrepreneurship will be held at Northampton University on November 12. To book your free place please visit http://critical.eventbrite.co.uk/
The seminar aims to develop understanding of the political and ideological framing of Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship. Keynote speakers include Pascal Dey and Chris Steyaert (University of St. Gallen), Alex Nicholls (University of Oxford), Andy Benson (National Coalition for Independent Action), Stefanie Mauksch (EBS Business School) and Ray Loveridge (University of Oxford).
Dr Simon Teasdale
Research Fellow
Third Sector Research Centre
Park House
University of Birmingham
Birmingham B15 2TT
Tel: 0121 414 2578
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