Social enterprises – the grand solution to today’s social ills?Ulrika LevanderSchool of social work, Lund university, SWEDEN

The social enterprise in Sweden Is in today’s political discourse presented as a

new & innovative way to approach welfare challenges (strongly supported by the Swedish government)

Increases: duplication over the last four years Is surrounded by a positive rhetoric

The focus of my study…how the understanding of the social

enterprise is constructed in Sweden today?…what the implications and dilemmas of the

solutions to welfare challenges advocated in the prevailing discourses of social enterprises are?

The definition provided by the Swedish government(Work-integration) social enterprises

Enterprises operating business… with the overall purpose to integrate people, who have

great difficulties to achieve and/or keep a job, in the society and in the labour market

who creates participation to their employees through ownership, formal agreements or in other well documented ways

who mainly reinvest its profit in its own or similar activities (not for-profit)

who is organisationally independent of the public sector(Näringsdepartementet - Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communication 2010)

Different institutional featuresBusiness political force – operates business,

creates new job openingsLabour-market policy tool – workfare- and

activation-measures/work-rehabilitationSocial policy actor – a third sector welfare-

producer, subcontractor to the public sector

The politicized discourse of social enterprises in Sweden By operating business the social enterprises can

create new job openings for groups of people that traditionally have difficulties to be established in the labour market

Reduces social exclusionTake advantages of people’s abilities – often

talked of as ‘participation’

The enterprises present innovative measures to combat social exclusion by offering jobs that take advantage of people’s abilities and create alternative tracks to work-rehabilitation Handlingsplan för arbetsintegrerande sociala företag, Näringsdepartementet 2010

As a labour-market policy toolSolution to social exclusion = the grand ‘social

ill’ of today (i.e. being unemployed/ “standing outside” the labour market)

The intensification of Swedish activation policies (the mid 1990’s and onwards)

The unemployed shall be made “employable”Control and demands of quid pro quoUnemployment are viewed as a problem of

activation rather than a problem of structural redistribution

Problem?Subsidized employment programs for socially

excluded people usually show vague or negative effects for possibilities to get a job

Recirculation between open unemployment and workfare measures

“Lock-in” effects in benefit dependency

Solution needed?The creation of activation and rehabilitation

measures that lead to “real” jobs

The enterprises present innovative measures to combat social exclusion by offering jobs that take advantage of people’s abilities and create alternative tacks to work-rehabilitationHandlingsplan för arbetsintegrerande sociala företag, Näringsdepartementet 2010

Prop. 2009/10:55 En politik för det civila samhället: Social enterprises are particularly emphasised as organizations that can undertake workfare assignments within the “Jobb- och utvecklingsgarantin” (2007)

Contradiction: Focus on offering jobsThree types of social enterprises are

described by the government. Enterprises with…

1) paid employees

2) an emphasis on work-rehabilitation to a job at another working-place

3) An emphasis on pursuit and a sense of social fellowship

…only one of these types offer ‘real jobs’

As a third sector welfare producer – a subcontractor to public authoritiesIncreased interest for actors of the third

sector to produce and deliver welfare servicesPolitical ambition to develop new forms of

collaboration between the public sector and the third sector

New ways of citizen participation and political participation are implemented in Swedish social policies (e.g. Överenskommelsen mellan regering, idéburna organisationer inom det sociala området och Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting)

Hopes and “promises”?A positively framed discourse (of social

enterprises – as well as of the third sector)Catchwords: participation, empowerment,

social capital, self-help

Problems?Lack of knowledge regarding the civil society

The extent to which third sector organisations perform welfare operations on behalf of the public sector

No collected statistics regarding social enterprises and their effects/result

Still:The idea of participation is a central

feature in the talk of social enterprises Social enterprises “create participation” for its

employees (but everyone is not employed) The participation distinguishes the social

enterprises from other work-rehabilitation initiatives (Nutek 2008)

”…create unique conditions for personal development, empowerment” (Nutek 2008)

“…unique in their emphasis on participation” (Arbetslivsinstitutet 2002)

“…participation creates empowerment and rehabilitating effects (Arbetslivsinstitutet 2002)

QueryCan social enterprises both create

participation for excluded people and – at the same time – offer effective workfare-measures?

Two competing discourses of the social enterprise The self-governing discourse

Excluded people make their own solutions Self-help Challenges the paternalism implied by welfare solutions

traditionally offered by the public sector Mobilises excluded groups

The exclusion discourse An efficient labour market policy tool People learn to take responsibility, becomes self-

sufficient Combat social exclusion Economically viable for the society

Key differencesThe identities of people within the

social enterprises are negotiatedFrom being people who has the

capacity to create their own solutions (acting agents)

To being people who need societal support (objects of change)

Different ideological implications

From being individuals who make changes of the institutional environment – and challenge prevailing power structures, the social entrepreneurs are framed as…

…people who shall be changed in

order to be able to “fit into” society and into the labour market, i.e. already existing institutional structures

Ideological dilemma of the social enterpriseTo conduct ‘treatment’ of benefit-

recipients according to prevailing labour market policies and to allow excluded groups to form their own ‘bottom-up’ solutions according to ideas based on solidarity, self-help and participation

Therefore: important to look into constructions of the social enterprise – and its implicationsHow are different social enterprises presenting

themselves?

A double speechThe success story

Benefit-recipients become businessmen Excluded people have recourses and abilities, which

are utilized

The treatment story The client is in focus – not the businessman The human-service content of the services provided

by social enterprises are emphasised: “We address needs” (rather than recognize abilities) “…offer structure and support” (rather than utilize

recourses)

Negotiated institutional legitimacyThe various stories offers different ways to

shape legitimacy for social enterprises, as …innovative businesses and job creators …alternative and efficient rehabilitation actors The narratives offer various possibilities to

handle the ideological and institutional dilemmas of the social enterprise

Conclusions…Consistent ambiguity regarding the social

enterprises role as job-creators and rehabilitation actors

Creates queries regarding the quality of the work integration solutions provided by social enterprises

Need for a more critical debate regarding the social enterprise as the grand solution to today’s social ills