Social entrepreneurship is a social venture and working for social interests. In the process of production, distribution, and consumption under social entrepreneurship production is socialized, risks are socialized, and profits are also socialized. Social entrepreneurship is the field in which entrepreneurs adapt their activities to be directly linked with the ultimate objective to achieve social interests. In other words; social entrepreneurship’s main goals are to achieve social equality with self-sufficiency, and sustainability. For capital accumulation and technological advancement generally developing countries encouraged foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational corporations (MNC). Nevertheless, MNC are not able to understand local conditions, just imposing their (MNCs) production to maximize their (MNCs) profits at even the less efficiency frontier, denoting the need for local societal or entrepreneurs. What has also been generally accepted is the notion that for economic growth to be self-sustaining, the allocation of resources to production should be based on consumption priorities as revealed by the prices (values) assigned to productive outcomes. Production systems that depend on institutional interventions require the consumption of resources apart from those dedicate to the production of goods and services and is hence inefficient in the long run. From Adam Smith to Joseph Schumpeter, almost all economists believe that ‘privately-owned entrepreneurship under free-competition based ‘laissez-fair’ condition will lead the engine of economic growth through achieving the goals of capital formation and capital accumulation ultimately will promote scientific and technological innovations, and through upgrading production techniques entrepreneurs attempt minimize costs with quality improvements to maximize own profits. In this process, Economic development process in which four main trends can be seen are: financialization, digitalization, privatization and corporatization, marketization, and globalization of economy in the last three decades.
Technological change, particularly in developing countries, is not only about innovating at the frontier, but also at adapting existing products and processes to achieve higher levels of productivity as applicable to their local contexts. In this process, the ability of local firms and enterprises to access technological know-how is fundamental to shaping their ability to provide products and services, both of the kind that are essential to improve living standards, and that could also promote growth and competitiveness. Economic development concentrated in a few geographical (where mainly focusing on specific areas like IT sector, technology trade, military or defense trade), among specific social groups and is increasing in urban areas, ultimately, whole exercise is focused on how to promote international trade for private corporate sectors to maximize profits through competitiveness and more liberalization.
This oligopolists-led globalization, worldwide poverty, malnutrition, income inequality, unemployment, and environmental degradation rigorously increased. Overcoming poverty requires a context specific multi-pronged strategy that includes: a basic societal needs approach, a human rights entitlement approach, a natural resource management and properly utilization approach, and a focus on inclusive economic development in all sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, and service, including health, education etc. Only through adopting multiple capability approach, it will create job opportunity to all with people’s freedom and choices.
However, Marxist school believes that the root cause of inequality, poverty, unemployment, backwardness, and unsustainability, is an ‘exploitation-based privately-owned entrepreneurialism. Capital accumulation (in terms of profit) by the capitalist is an unpaid capital to the workers. The capitalists have been accumulating capital since the industrial revolution era. In this context, social entrepreneurs can play a major role in addressing critical social problems and the dedication they show in improving the well-being of society.
In the local economy the range of occupations engaging the rural poor is wide and varied. It includes: agriculture labour, small/ marginal- cultivators, hides and skins occupations ranging over flaying, carcass utilization tanning, and product making; cloth weaving, dyeing and printing; fibre collection/ extraction, basket and mat weaving; animal husbandry, poultry, fishing, toddy tapping, etc. and allied secondary processing like food processing; blacksmithing, carpentry, pottery, and masonry and other engineering-artisans, or handicraft occupations; manual haulage and transportation including cycle rickshaw and scavenging. The networks of group enterprises comprising rural poor can be built around the principle of worker co-operatives i.e. worker ownership, collective appropriation of surplus and full participation in decision making.
Under competitive conditions the self-employed small producers have not only to come together for access to resources, but also have to emerge as a multi-sectoral collective of producers, co-operating in production. Since economies of scale are required to overcome adverse competition, [the] rural poor will have to be consciously networked and technologically advanced in a mutually complementing way. Rural poor will have to pool the resources and capabilities for raising the scale and scope of their collective production organization. This change in the scale and scope can alone allow the participating members to lower the barriers facing them in the creation and adoption of more sophisticated and improved technologies which can make their production more competitive than before in the local markets. The local economy exists as a block level wide, multi-sectoral network.
To achieve the goals of equality, inclusiveness and sustainability in the development process essentially require creating a network of production; distribution; and consumption at local levels, by creating the area based organization of rural poor as ‘community-based’ production units.
To create block level wide, viable large-scale network of production system of the rural poor based on local resources, capabilities and markets through appropriate organizational and S&T efforts, through people’s participation in all types of activities include decision-making process based on people’s science and techniques.
To strengthen inter-links between present occupational target groups and organizations to advance the local economy by encouraging local value addition. This can be achieved through linking of primary and secondary production and the technological up-gradation of existing occupations.
To avoid mutual competition among small producers and for superior access to resources and markets, and to technology transfer to organize landless labour, artisans and poor peasants for area based multi-sectoral large-scale production systems.
The main objectives of Rural based ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ are:
Formation of Capital- rural entrepreneurs can reduce not only transportation cost of input-output but through maintaining low cost production can generate more capital formation.
Balanced Regional Development- rural social entrepreneurs can reduce the imbalances and disparities in development among regions.
General Employment- Employment is generated directly by the requirement of the large enterprises. With the globalization process the government jobs are shrinking leaving many unemployed.
Rural based social entrepreneurship can utilise local natural resources and local man power for production and consumption at local levels.
The social entrepreneurship is a mission-based initiative to protect and further deliver a social value to the less privileged, all through an entrepreneurial oriented entity that is financially independent, self-sufficient, or sustainable. This definition combines four factors that make social entrepreneurship distinct from other forms of entrepreneurship.
Lastly, on the name of religious activities millions of hectares of valuable lands (as occupied by the various religious organizations), wealth and other assets includes industries, schools and colleges, hospitals, and other buildings, gold, and currencies (which is combined trillions of dollars) must be captured and nationalized by the government. So, people can use these resources to solve the problems of the society.
ImpactsThe concept of social entrepreneurship has become all the more important in today's world where the state has digressed from the role of a facilitator of society to becoming a stooge in the hands of private capital. A book on social entrepreneurship with case studies from emerging economies will have a wide ranging positive impact as this model is glocal (global issues, local solutions) in nature. There is an urgent need to re-look into the strategies adopted by the government and entrepreneurs to use the resources- both physical and human. The early half of the last century saw the rise of cooperatives in the socialist economies but unfortunately their orientation was inward looking and was highly politicized, hence the required results could not be achieved. This concept of cooperatives along with self help group model, micro finance, MSME is an integrated approach where the reality of market has been interwoven. Livelihood generation has become one of the major issues which the present day governments are dealing with. Social Entrepreneurship is a means to strengthen the existing various occupations in rural areas by creating a huge networks of production, distribution and consumption through organisational efforts as the current job scenario is highly unorganized, to stop the migration from rural areas to urban areas. Social Entrepreneurship also provides an alternative to highly mechanized areas of the economy which are already facing the problem of over dependence by creating new job opportunities in rural fringe areas. In case of India rural industrialization has not taken place so far, thus social entrepreneurship provides this opportunity.
ValueSocial Entrepreneurship is a process that catalyzes social change by providing entitlement and empowerment to the vast rural masses. In this era of globalization and corporatization, the rural gentry has remained out of the realm of industrialization. This book will change a narrative with case studies that how social entrepreneurship acts as a tool for the benefit of huge rural population by not only providing them jobs in their existing places but also regrouping them by strengthening existing occupations. Besides, social entrepreneurship is the reversal of pyramid as it deals with bottom to top approach rather than top to bottom. This area is a virgin area as most of the literature already available in the market are on rural development and talk about constructive destructive.
This comprehensive book will be designed to meet the requirements of the university students who studying the courses of economics, and management at graduate and post graduate levels, and for policy makers, planners, and development agencies, (especially groups of NGOs) who are actively engaged with social and other activities to change the current social and economic order of society, will be certainly benefited from this book.