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The article describes the recent evolution of the Italian third sector, focusing particularly on its changing role in relation to welfare policies and on its contribution to the development of the provision of social services. In contrast with those considering the emergence and development of the sector solely, or mainly, as a consequence of decisions made by external actors, especially public institutions, the article shows a more complex and dynamic picture. The article demonstrates that the Italian third sector, although at the present time largely engaged in contractual services with the public sector, has maintained a level of autonomy that allows for continuous innovation both within and external to the social service sector. The Italian case supports the need for further debate on the role of the third sector in modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) is a unique economic model that addresses contemporary community problems by democratising the economy through activities that promote sustainability, solidarity, and collective prosperity. Research on the SSE has increased in recent years, showing its potential as an alternative to dominant economic schemes. This article aims to analyse how the SSE can contribute to sustainability in rural sector associations in Ecuador through the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method. This method empowers various stakeholders, including the community, associations, and the university, to be actively involved in designing, developing, and implementing solutions to alleviate their problems. The results show that in the context of a developing country, this active participation, interaction, and commitment can identify the various problems that the rural sector and its associations are experiencing. This situation allows for possible joint action solutions, involving people who usually do not have decision-making power or are vulnerable, by diagnosing their socio-economic conditions and establishing a training programme where knowledge production is democratic, thus combining theoretical and practical elements according to the needs detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the consequences of fusing market-based and social principles for how 'the social' and solidarity is understood. To do so, I turn to the recently formalized 'Social and Solidarity Economy'(SSE) in Greece. I conceptualize the SSE as a governmental mode of power that attempts to render social and market-based principles as commensurate. I claim this occurs through the codification and proliferation of what we may call 'hybrid-economic practices' – such as social impact measurement, and social innovation. Hybrid-economic practices fuse a utilitarian, efficiency-maximizing logic that weighs costs and benefits, with narratives of solidarity and collective social purpose. Based on a qualitative analysis of the SSE law in Greece and interviews with practitioners and policy-makers, I claim that fusing market-based and social principles come at the cost of depleting the political and ethical components of solidarity and 'the social.' Yet, rather than depoliticizing them, I argue hybrid-economic practices more appropriately transmute how solidarity and 'the social' is understood through three mutually constitutive processes: economization, entrepreneurialization, and communitarianization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work (SW) is criticized for its (i) inconsistent ontology, epistemology, and methodology and (ii) co-dependency with the capitalist hegemony, which is the main cause of multiple crises that primarily affect the most vulnerable. Addressing these issues is of paramount importance if SW is to achieve its core mandate of promoting social change, social development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. The purpose of this paper is to assert that SW can address these issues by learning from the (i) Settlement House Movement (SHM), especially the Hull-House tradition of SW; and (ii) current endeavors of the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE). We were led to this assertion because we noticed in our research, in the area of SSE of vulnerable groups and SW, remarkable similarities and potentials of these two approaches to help transform SW. Our argument is based on data and insight gained from (i) a narrative literature review on the history of SW and the nature of SSE; and (ii) a systematic scoping review of the SSE of People of African Descent (PAD) in Europe. In this paper, we elaborate on our key arguments and provide examples and recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attention to the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship has been especially enhanced during the current turbulent times, as social enterprises have a key role to play in solving social problems caused by the pandemic. Currently, social entrepreneurship is still an undeveloped area in Georgia, but it has the potential to contribute to the country's economy and improve the social, ecological, and economic conditions of society. This paper analyses the concept in Georgia and explores social entrepreneurship from the social entrepreneurs' perspective. A qualitative interview method was applied to collect the data for this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the seventeen Georgian social entrepreneurs from May–June 2021. The research reveals the drivers of social entrepreneurs and investigates the financial sources of social enterprises. It also discusses the practice of social entrepreneurship in terms of preventing and supportive factors while adopting the concept in transition economies, particularly in Georgia. The research demonstrated an urgent need for legislation to regulate the field of social entrepreneurship and formalize it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that measuring the noneconomic outcomes produced by social economy organizations is fairly difficult and complex. Usually, social economy organizations feature participatory and democratic decision-making processes that help create social capital and relational goods, and they are interested in social integration; accordingly, they tend to create an organizational culture that encourages their workers to contribute to local communities. Therefore, the hypothesis that the increased activities of social economy organizations have a causal effect on the subjective well-being of the people living near those organizations is highly plausible. In this paper, we estimate the causal effect and attempt to test the hypothesis statistically by using a dataset called the “Seoul Survey,” which provides observations on the subjective well-being of 45,496 citizens living in Seoul and the size of social economy organizations. Controlling for variables at the district level and the appropriate socioeconomic characteristics of each individual in the dataset, we find that the size of social organizations is highly significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social economy as a regional development actor is gaining greater attention given its purported ability to address social and environmental problems. This growth in interest is occurring within a global environment that is calling for a more holistic understanding of development compared to traditionally economic-centric conceptions. While regional development policies and practices have long considered for-profit businesses as agents for regional growth, there is a relatively limited understanding of the role of the social economy as a development actor. The institutional environment is a large determinant of all kinds of entrepreneurial activity, and therefore understanding the relationships between the social economy and broader regional development processes is warranted. This paper moves beyond suggestions of an economic-centric focus of regional development by utilizing institutional logics as a theoretical framework for understanding the role of social enterprises in regional development. A multiple case study of ten social enterprises in two regional locations in Australia suggests that social enterprises can represent competing logics to economic-centric institutional values and systems. The paper argues that dominant institutional logics can promote or constrain the inter-play between the social and the economic aspects of development, in the context of social enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the development and omnipresence, in Europe, of the non-profit sector and due to the diversification of the legal entities that are involved in the configuration of the third sector, an legal analysis of the foundation of banking origins, is very appealing. Throughout this study we aim to point out key moments in the evolution of this particular figure, mainly in the Italian legislation. Nevertheless, we intend to identify the legal nature of the foundation of banking origins in order to draw a line between banking and philanthropic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to explore key changes in the mode of operation of Polish social economy organizations (SEOs) that result from a social policy targeted at strengthening their independence and sustainability. The activities of SEOs are largely supported by public institutions, but their opportunities for assistance of capacity building are considered insufficient. Owing to the current policy, not only an economic independence, but also the structure and behavior of supported social organizations, especially in their relations with other stakeholders, can be strengthened. Based on the exploratory analysis on how SOEs change their independence and sustainability as a result of implementation of the public policy, a conceptual model of value co-creation will be used. The model enables analyzing the scope and scale of stakeholder engagement in the development of SEOs. The empirical research was conducted using a survey among 112 Polish social economy organizations. The results of the study show that the market-oriented approach not only reduces the scale of relations between SEOs and their stakeholders but also affects the way SEOs work, transforming them to be more like traditional businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]