The Dark Side of Social Entrepreneurship

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper is conceptual in its outlook. It provides a new lens through which scholars in the emerging field of social entrepreneurs hip should view the concept in order to come to a better understanding of the field. It raises the question as to whether or not all enterprises that deliver a social service can be duly classified as social enterprise and be linked to the wider field of social entrepreneurs hip. This question becomes relevant when the context within which the social service is being delivered is taken into consideration. Garrison communities in Jamaica provided the context within which the current paper analyses the question. The paper argues that the line between violence as a business, which generate funds to support enterprises that deliver social services to ensure power and control by gang leaders and, social enterprise, which deliver social services to transform lives through the creation of social value has become blurred. This, we call the dark side of social entrepreneurship and argue that the discourse on social entrepreneurship cannot ignore this phenomenon, especially in developing countries with a high number of vulnerable communities. Key words: Garrison, Social Enterprise, Jamaica, Social Entrepreneurship INTRODUCTION The concept of social entrepreneurship is not a tidy one (Peredo & McLean, 2006; Mair & Marti, 2006; Seelos & Mair; 2005: Dees; 1998). There appears to be a blurring of the boundaries as to what constitutes a social enterprise and more so, social entrepreneurship as a concept. This is further mudded by the fact that a number of organisations that have questions surrounding their legitimacy but which carry out social functions, for example, criminal gangs, are sometimes categorised as social enterprises and fall under the rubric of social entrepreneurship. This situation appears to be most prevalent in societies that are low growth, with high levels of poverty, high unemployment, and large social dislocations. In these contexts, social enterprises tend to have a significant impact but it is not always clear whether or not the intent is really social, or is there another darker motive behind the benevolence being distributed under the guise of social entrepreneurship. It is these issues that have motivated the research presented in this paper. The paper hopes to understand whether or not we can categorise all enterprises under the heading, social entrepreneurship once they are involved in creating social value in a community. Shedding light on this issue has serious implications for how we conceptualise the term social entrepreneurship and build a general understanding of the concept. To achieve the aims of this work, the paper is organised as follows: the next section will present a discussion on the definition of social entrepreneurship, and also social enterprises. This will be followed by a review of the context in which the study is focused. This review is important as it provides a better lens through which one can understand the problem that is being raised in the paper. Here, we will look at the social dislocation in Jamaica, in what are called garrison communities where a lot of the social enterprise activities take place but under questionable circumstances Following this, a discussion will be presented to show how the characteristics of the activities in these communities reflect the nature and characteristics of social enterprises. This will help us to draw conclusions about whether or not all social enterprises can be labelled under the theme social entrepreneurship. The paper will end with a discussion and some concluding remarks. WHAT IS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP While the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship is not new, it appears that the language, i.e. the concept is just emerging. Entrepreneurship as a concept aimed at improving the economic development of nations, has gained significant amount of attention in the literature (Venkataraman, 1997; Shane & Venkataraman, 2000; Gartner, 1988 etc). …

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