| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Levander, Ulrika, 1973
(författare)
-
Social Enterprise Discourses
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Oral presentation at the 8th ISTR International Conference and 2nd EMES-ISTR European Conference in Barcelona, 9 - 12 July 2008.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of the “social enterprise” is blending traditionally conflicting ideologies of the left and the right and mixing principles of the market, the voluntary sector and the public sphere. In this paper this concept and phenomenon is approached from a constructivist perspective. What kinds of discourses can be tracked in the idea, and which social consequences do they imply? In analysing different ways of talking about the phenomenon, the discursive analysis of the social enterprise includes both interdiscursive analysis and linguistic analysis of texts. The study presented in the paper was conducted in a Swedish context and is part of a Ph.D. project in social work. It was based on printed or net-published documents concerning, or dealing with, the concept of social enterprises. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was the main method of analysis, and a basic methodological assumption was that each discursive environment constructs, reproduces and confirms particular accounts for institutional purposes. In the rhetoric of the documents preferred and disparaged frames of understanding the idea of social enterprising were traced. The study showed that the idea of social enterprise as an activity involving multiple goals, multiple principles and multiple resources, opens up for a wide range of competing discourses. In the analysis, three main discursive formations emerged, contesting the way the social enterprise, and the welfare produced by the social enterprise, are to be understood. While the dominating discourse in the first discursive formations to a great extent reflected the social enterprise as a method to empower marginalised individuals or disadvantaged groups, the other discursive formations showed a different result. Here, the discursive formations originally used were reconstructed. What was previously viewed as a means, were now being described as the goal. Appearing as a goal in itself, the social enterprise was here utilized as a solution communicated by governing authorities to handle issues of structural character in the society. As it is held to bring new dynamics to the third sector, deconstructing the idea of “social enterprise” should be of relevance for an international audience outside Sweden.
|
|
| 4. |
- Levander, Ulrika, 1973
(författare)
-
Social Enterprise Discourses
- 2009
-
Ingår i: EMES Conference Selected Paper Series. ; ECSP-B08-24:24, s. 1-24
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of the "social enterprise" is blending traditionally conflicting ideologies of the left and the right and mixing principles of the market, the voluntary sector and the public sphere. In this paper this concept and phenomenon is approached from a constructivist perspective. What kinds of discourses can be tracked in the idea, and which social consequences do they imply? In analysing different ways of talking about the phenomenon, the discursive analysis of the social enterprise includes both interdiscursive analysis and linguistic analysis of texts. The study presented in the paper was conducted in a Swedish context and is part of a Ph.D. project in social work. It was based on printed or net-published documents concerning, or dealing with, the concept of social enterprises. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was the main method of analysis, and a basic methodological assumption was that each discursive environment constructs, reproduces and confirms particular accounts for institutional purposes. In the rhetoric of the documents preferred and disparaged frames of understanding the idea of social enterprising were traced. The study showed that the idea of social enterprise as an activity involving multiple goals, multiple principles and multiple resources, opens up for a wide range of competing discourses. In the analysis, three main discursive formations emerged, contesting the way the social enterprise, and the welfare produced by the social enterprise, are to be understood. While the dominating discourse in the first discursive formations to a great extent reflected the social enterprise as a method to empower marginalised individuals or disadvantaged groups, the other discursive formations showed a different result. Here, the discursive formations originally used were reconstructed. What was previously viewed as a means, were now being described as the goal. Appearing as a goal in itself, the social enterprise was here utilized as a solution communicated by governing authorities to handle issues of structural character in the society. As it is held to bring new dynamics to the third sector, deconstructing the idea of "social enterprise" should be of relevance for an international audience outside Sweden. Key Words: Social enterprise, discourse, third sector, deconstruction, empowerment
|
|
| 5. |
- Levander, Ulrika, 1973
(författare)
-
Social Exclusion - an Analytical Aspect of the Social Enterprise
- 2009
-
Ingår i: 2nd EMES Inbternational Conference on Socal Enterprise, University of Trento, Italy. ; , s. 1-29
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years the tendency to conceptualize disadvantaged positions in society in terms of ‘social exclusion’ has gained acceptance in political as well as theoretical discourse. In a similar matter, social enterprises are often conceptualized as initiatives aiming to combat social exclusion. While the concern with inclusion in the early Swedish social enterprises focused primarily on empowerment and rehabilitation, initiatives adopting a more pro-active attitude to labour market inclusion have emerged in recent years. Hence, specific labour market inclusion has replaced general inclusion as the principle aim within the discourse of social enterprises in Sweden. A parallel conceptual shift has been identified in the framing of the concept ‘social exclusion’ in various contemporary international studies, which also claim that attention within the concept now is directed towards deficiencies of the excluded ones, rather than at excluding processes or structural factors in society. Metaphorically, terms like ‘exclusion’ and ‘inclusion’ rely on an image of society as a bounded space with a defined centre (Koller & Davidson, 2008). By conceptualizing society in terms of individuals being either inside it or outside it, these metaphors adopt a ‘horizontal’ view of society as a contrast to the traditional ‘vertical’ view of society as hierarchical. By carefully examining the use of ‘social exclusion’ as a metaphor in a discourse analysis of the social enterprise, this paper attempts to outline the implications and the everyday dealings of a Swedish social enterprise in relations to the discursive reconstructions sketched above. The paper presents a case study of a Swedish third sector organization, trying to develop into a social enterprise. The social enterprise was initially described as an initiative to empower homeless people and to include them into society. However, attempts to implement the idea of inclusion paradoxically involved a gradual development of several exclusionary practices in regard to the participants. In addition, the interpretive repertoire utilized by the program’s initiators tended to place the responsibility for not being ‘included’ – in the everyday practice of the enterprise as well as into the labour market – on the participants themselves. In the end, the practice of the case examined had little or nothing to do with the original inclusive rhetoric utilized to describe it as a social enterprise. Analysing possible discursive reconstructions of social enterprises’ work against exclusion, as well as their implications, can make a relevant contribution to the development of a comprehensive conceptual framework able to overcome national specificities.
|
|
| 6. |
- Levander, Ulrika, 1973
(författare)
-
Social exclusion - an analytical aspect of the social enterprise
- 2009
-
Ingår i: EMES Conferences Selected Papers Series. ; ECSP-T09-18:T09-18, s. 1-25
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years the tendency to conceptualize disadvantaged positions in society in terms of ‘social exclusion’ has gained acceptance in political as well as theoretical discourse. In a similar matter, social enterprises are often conceptualized as initiatives aiming to combat social exclusion. Metaphorically, terms like ‘exclusion’ and ‘inclusion’ rely on an image of society as a bounded space with a defined centre (Koller & Davidson, 2008). In conceptualizing society in terms of individuals being either inside it or outside it, these metaphors adopt a ‘horizontal’ view of society, which contrast to the traditional ‘vertical’ view of society as hierarchical. By carefully examining the use of ‘social exclusion’ as a metaphor in a discourse analysis of the social enterprise, this paper attempts to outline how the everyday dealings and implications of a Swedish social enterprise are related to the discursive reconstructions sketched above. This paper presents a case study of a Swedish third sector organization, trying to develop into a social enterprise. The enterprise was initially described as an initiative to empower homeless people and to include them into society. However, the idea to promote inclusion paradoxically involved a gradual development of several exclusionary practices. In addition, the interpretive repertoire utilized by the program’s initiators tended to place the responsibility for not being ‘included’ on the participants themselves. In the end, the practice of the case examined had little or nothing to do with the original inclusive rhetoric utilized to describe it as a social enterprise. Analysing possible discursive reconstructions of social enterprises’ work against exclusion can make a relevant contribution to the development of a comprehensive conceptual framework able to overcome national specificities.
|
|
| 7. |
- Levander, Ulrika, 1973
(författare)
-
Social Innovation: Implications of Emerging Institutionalized Constructions
- 2009
-
Ingår i: International Social Innovation Research Conference, Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In contemporary discourse the social enterprise is often described as a new and innovative phenomenon aiming to solve current challenges of the welfare state. However, ‘social innovation’ is a challenging concept in several aspects. One way to comprehend the talk on innovation is to view it as an institutionally constructed narrative, created in order for the social enterprise to gain identity and legitimacy. Using the theoretical framework of new institutionalism in organizational analysis, and critical discourse analysis, the concept of social innovation is analyzed discursively both at a policy level, and at a practitioner’s level in contemporary Scandinavian discourse. As the discourse of innovation at a practitioner’s level to a great extent reflects the social enterprise as a method to empower marginalised individuals or disadvantaged groups, the findings show that the discourse outlined at a policy level primarily talks of the enterprise as a solution to issues of structural character in society. Rather than to be empowered, the people occupying the social enterprises are here supposed to change, and to be disciplined in order to depart from social difficulties. Thus, the idea of social innovation does not only carry promises of social solutions, but also bears a risk of introducing implicit forms of governance in the work carried out by social enterprises, that are not addressed in contemporary discourses of innovation. Viewed in the light of the study outlined, the implications of today’s talk on social innovation are discussed and analyzed in a critical stance.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
