The EU calls it ’social business’, coops and mutuals stick to the old definition ‘social economy’, while in Angloland it’s called ‘social enterprise’.
I pay little attention to definition – I left Law after few months and the only exam I took was Philosophy of Law – but everywhere I find the same excitement for enterprises able to navigate market open water to deliver good for the community.
Excited are the practitioners of not so fancy NGOs together with corporates and policy makers. Even the media pay more attention than usual. What’s the secret or is just due to the crisis?
After 30 years of rational choice hangover, we are all rediscovering the value of cooperation, perhaps its necessity. The decadence of the West, the rise of the East, financial crunch, economic recession, rocketing unemployment and climate change are kindly reminding us that it’s time to stop for a moment to review our development model, our lifestyle.
Here is the time for social enterprise. It doesn’t deny our individual entrepreneurship and good dose of selfishness – arrogance, vanity, rivalry etc. etc. etc. – but it just channels the latter towards a positive direction: cooperation, sustainability and social justice. Is this the magic to get out of the crisis?
We don’t know yet but it’s worthwhile to try this new path. We might end up with a nice surprise.
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