Social and cooperative entrepreneurship
A different perspective outlined by a series of investigations and research
Cooperate to do business better – and more efficiently and fairly. And while thinking of others and the local area. Cooperative and social entrepreneurship has much to contribute to the economy and business culture. However, we also need to have an objective understanding of its particularities, be clearly aware of its characteristics and have a precise grasp of its possibilities. Enter Radici nel futuro. Economia sociale e cooperazione (Roots in the Future. Social Economy and Cooperation), a collection of research on the topic coordinated by Eleonora Vanni and Maria Felicia Gemelli.
The various investigations take as their starting point an observation of the features of the current economic and social period. The introduction states: “We are living through a time of profound change marked by elements representing a decisive break with the past: social and economic ruptures that have widened, a digital transformation that has grown faster (partly a result of the pandemic period), transformations in work, both in an organisational form – especially in relation to remote working – and in terms of an approach to work that seems to be evolving beyond mere salary-related considerations.” This leads to the acknowledgement of the need for “a new and different model of development geared towards sustainability across the economic, social and environmental spheres, raised again in a very significant way by the debate on the role that the Social Economy plays as a driver for development”.
The body of research first outlines the processes of change and then takes a closer look at the tools available for the development of social entrepreneurship. Subsequently, other investigations focus on the relationships that can exist to create and give form to different kinds of participation. A series of case studies breathes life into the collection, which ultimate concludes that the social cooperative model is a tool that can provide a starting point for embarking on a different path of development. This is a model – as flagged at the beginning of the collection – “that overcomes the state-market dichotomy and provides greater economic democracy and market participation for a wider range of individuals with diversified aims, all within an entrepreneurial setting. These are aims that the social economy, in the European vision, prioritises in the pursuit of a better balance in the distribution of produced value between people (members) and territories (communities), in the context of a lower impact of production on the environment and democratic and participatory governance.”
The book contains a number of investigations that will certainly not unite everyone in agreement at their conclusions; nevertheless it represents a valuable toolbox for learning more about a reality that cannot be overlooked.
Radici nel futuro. Economia sociale e cooperazione (Roots in the Future. Social Economy and Cooperation)
Eleonora Vanni, Maria Felicia Gemelli (eds.)
Trasformazioni, Barberini Foundation. Memoria e immaginazione, 2023
A different perspective outlined by a series of investigations and research
Cooperate to do business better – and more efficiently and fairly. And while thinking of others and the local area. Cooperative and social entrepreneurship has much to contribute to the economy and business culture. However, we also need to have an objective understanding of its particularities, be clearly aware of its characteristics and have a precise grasp of its possibilities. Enter Radici nel futuro. Economia sociale e cooperazione (Roots in the Future. Social Economy and Cooperation), a collection of research on the topic coordinated by Eleonora Vanni and Maria Felicia Gemelli.
The various investigations take as their starting point an observation of the features of the current economic and social period. The introduction states: “We are living through a time of profound change marked by elements representing a decisive break with the past: social and economic ruptures that have widened, a digital transformation that has grown faster (partly a result of the pandemic period), transformations in work, both in an organisational form – especially in relation to remote working – and in terms of an approach to work that seems to be evolving beyond mere salary-related considerations.” This leads to the acknowledgement of the need for “a new and different model of development geared towards sustainability across the economic, social and environmental spheres, raised again in a very significant way by the debate on the role that the Social Economy plays as a driver for development”.
The body of research first outlines the processes of change and then takes a closer look at the tools available for the development of social entrepreneurship. Subsequently, other investigations focus on the relationships that can exist to create and give form to different kinds of participation. A series of case studies breathes life into the collection, which ultimate concludes that the social cooperative model is a tool that can provide a starting point for embarking on a different path of development. This is a model – as flagged at the beginning of the collection – “that overcomes the state-market dichotomy and provides greater economic democracy and market participation for a wider range of individuals with diversified aims, all within an entrepreneurial setting. These are aims that the social economy, in the European vision, prioritises in the pursuit of a better balance in the distribution of produced value between people (members) and territories (communities), in the context of a lower impact of production on the environment and democratic and participatory governance.”
The book contains a number of investigations that will certainly not unite everyone in agreement at their conclusions; nevertheless it represents a valuable toolbox for learning more about a reality that cannot be overlooked.
Radici nel futuro. Economia sociale e cooperazione (Roots in the Future. Social Economy and Cooperation)
Eleonora Vanni, Maria Felicia Gemelli (eds.)
Trasformazioni, Barberini Foundation. Memoria e immaginazione, 2023