Social enterprises are a reality gaining momentum  in Europe, implying innovations of organizational forms of the social economy and activities articulating the economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions, among others, orienting their missions to problems of poverty, unemployment, ageing, sustainability, etc.

The existing knowledge in Portugal is limited, despite the international, scientific and political relevance of social enterprises. However, the discussions around the concept are also indicative of the transformations and complex articulations in the field of social economy and the relations between these organizations, the state, companies and the market.

The main research questions that this project seeks to respond to are the following:

  • 1) What are the meanings, institutional trajectories and characteristics of SE in Portugal?
  • 2) How do SE reflect and contribute to finding solutions to social and societal challenges?
  • 3) What are the institutional frameworks and strategies that can favour the development of SE?

Results

This project intends to:

  • Contribute to fill knowledge gaps on SE in Portugal;
  • Strengthening the academic field of the social economy;
  • Help shaping decisions of public decision makers and social entrepreneurs;
  • Articulate internationally the field of social enterprises in Portugal.

Internationalization

TIMES articulates with international networks that work on issues related to social enterprises, social economy, solidarity economy and others. It has a particular affinity with the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project, coordinated by Jacques Defourny and Marthe Nyssens, in SOCENT and the EMES-International Research Network, and with COST Action EMPOWER-SE – Empowering the Next Generation of Social Enterprise Scholars, coordinated by Marthe Nyssens, within the EMES network.

Objectives:

This project aims to contribute to the knowledge of the meaning, profile, institutional context and roles of SE in Portugal, in order to help strengthening its role in solving social and societal problems. To do this, it will:

  • map the institutional framework and meanings of social enterprises in Portugal
  • build a typology of social enterprise models in Portugal
  • identify how existing institutional frameworks shape the behavior of social enterprises and how these shape institutional frameworks
  • seek to understand the role of social enterprises in responding to social and societal challenges

Methodology:

The project articulates institutionalist approaches to the study of public organizations and policies to analyze the co-evolution of SE and its institutional context. It adopts the concept of social enterprise of the European tradition, developed within the framework of the EMES International Research Network: “organizations that combine an entrepreneurial dynamic to provide services or goods with the primacy of their social aims.” This definition includes three dimensions: a) the economic project; b) the social orientation; c) governance.

The conceptual and methodological choices are in line with the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models Project (ICSEM), coordinated by Marthe Nyssens and Jacques Defourny, at SOCENT and inserted in the EMES Network – International Research Network.

The methods include the collection and documental analysis of legal and political frameworks, and documentation of federative and other organizations, semi-structured interviews with relevant actors, comparative case studies of typical SE of different models and areas of activity, and focus groups with SE leaders, to identify their institutional insertion, their strategies, and their challenges and opportunities in the field of their missions.

The project team is multidisciplinary, covering sociology, law, economics and management. The team has worked on the third sector, social economy, cooperativism, management and quality in the third sector, welfare mix, innovation in social entrepreneurship, cooperative law, social enterprises, and innovation and territorial development.

Funding

ERDF – European Regional Development Fund through COMPETE 2020 – Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and Portuguese funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology