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The ‘Re-Emergence’ of Social Enterprises in CEE and the CIS

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Paid and Unpaid Labour in the Social Economy

Part of the book series: AIEL Series in Labour Economics ((AIEL))

Abstract

This essay analyzes the characteristics and the role of social enterprises in CEE and CIS countries. Following a brief introduction on the relevance of institutional pluralism for economies characterized by poorly developed markets and welfare systems under construction, the importance of social enterprise for those countries is emphasized. Starting from a definition of social enterprise grounded in the European tradition, focus then shifts on the history of social entrepreneurial organizations and current social enterprise development paths in the region, with special regard to the role played by the social enterprise in fostering socio-economic development. Social enterprises are found to increase the supply of general goods and services for the community, generate new employment, contribute to a more balanced use and allocation of resources, and enhance the social capital at the local level.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The vast array of socio-economic institutions other than investor-owned (the market) and public agencies (the state) has been termed in various ways depending on the definition used in the specific tradition, national context, and specific features emphasized. The “nonprofit sector approach” has been developing since the second half of the 1970s to understand the US situation. It relies on strict limits imposed on the appropriation of the organization’s surplus in the form of monetary gain by those who run and control it (Anheier and Ben-Ner 2003). The term “voluntary sector” is mainly used in Great Britain to refer to those organizations that are located in a societal space between the State and the Market. The “social economy” approach, French in origin, was forged to bring together cooperatives, mutual societies and associations. The social economy definition stresses the specificity of the mission of these organizations, namely their aim to benefit either their members or a larger community, rather than to generate profits for investors. This paper mainly refers to third sector organizations and draws on the concept of social enterprise that was originally worked out by the EMES European Research Network (http://www.emes.net). See Sect. 13.2.2 for an analysis of the social enterprise concept.

  2. 2.

    Most of the laws regulating associations and foundations in the region limit the possibility of running economic activities. Hence, there is a marginal role for third sector organizations in the supply of social services.

  3. 3.

    Leś and Jeliazkova quote the Polish sociologist Jadwiga Staniszki, who coined the term “structural violence” to describe this phenomenon. (Leś and Jeliazkova 2007).

  4. 4.

    The evolutionary dynamics of both associations and cooperatives was emphasized for the first time by (CECOP 1996).

  5. 5.

    The concept of the social enterprise was originally worked out in Europe by a group of researchers - the EMES European Research Network. It refers to both socio-economic entities that are newly created organizations and existing third sector organizations refreshed by a new dynamics (Borzaga and Defourny 2001).

  6. 6.

    This is the case of Community interest companies in the UK and Social enterprises in Italy, as well as Public benefit companies in Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, and Hungary.

  7. 7.

    In countries which enjoyed more liberal regimes, the process of growth after the collapse of communism was slower if compared to more authoritarian regimes. For instance, in Slovenia the rise in the number of third sector organizations was the most intense in the period 1975–1985, following some democratic changes, which paved the way for the development of third sector initiatives. In contrast, in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic, third sector organizations were much more subordinated to the State. As a result, many more organizations were formed during the first years of democratic rule (Mansfeldovà et al. 2004).

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Acknowledgment

I thank Carlo Borzaga for his comments. However, the responsibility of any errors remains only mine.

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  1. European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, University of Trento, Via Inama 5, 38100, Trento, Italy

    Giulia Galera

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  1. Giulia Galera
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    Galera, G. (2009). The ‘Re-Emergence’ of Social Enterprises in CEE and the CIS. In: Musella, M., Destefanis, S. (eds) Paid and Unpaid Labour in the Social Economy. AIEL Series in Labour Economics. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2137-6_14

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