Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5559/di.26.2.01
Social Enterprise in Transition: A Case Study of ACT Group
Paul Stubbs
orcid.org/0000-0002-0318-4306
; The Institute of Economics, Zagreb
Davorka Vidović
; Faculty of Political Science, Zagreb
Abstract
Contextualising the lived practices of social enterprises
overcomes crude binaries between the idealised views
of such ventures as 'heroic' and those which see them
as the reproduction of neo-liberal hegemony. When
translated into 'transition' contexts in the 'semi-periphery',
there is a need for case studies of social enterprises
which address the micro-level of lived social practices,
exploring the ways in which particular initiatives steer
a path, however contradictory and paradoxical,
towards an autonomous space for action, even in
the face of an inconsistent and unsupportive operating
environment. Based on a 'bending and blending'
approach, making a virtue out of the fact that
researchers on social enterprises inevitably are also
enrolled as policy consultants, advisors, advocates,
and practitioners, this paper uses qualitative methods
to explore the work of ACT Group, a consortium of
social enterprises from Čakovec, Croatia. The text
explores the hybrid nature of the Group's organisational
topography and leadership styles, the complex
relationship between informal and formal practices,
and the unexpected synergies between
charismatic leadership and collective decision-
-making.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
183931
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2017.
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