Communitarian perspectives on social enterprise

Concepts of social enterprise have been debated repeatedly, and continue to cause confusion. In this paper, a meta-theoretical framework is developed through discussion of individualist and communitarian philosophy. Philosophers from both traditions build social theories that emphasise either consensus (a unitarist outlook) or diversity (a pluralist outlook). The various discourses in corporate governance reflect these assumptions and create four distinct approaches that impact on the relationship between capital and labour. In rejecting the traditional discourse of private enterprise, social enterprises have adopted other approaches to tackle social exclusion, each derived from different underlying beliefs about the purpose of enterprise and the nature of governance. The theoretical framework offers a way to understand the diversity found within the sector, including the newly constituted Community Interest Company (CIC).</p

Commons and Cooperatives

In the last decade, the commons has become a prevalent theme in discussions about collective but decentralized control over resources. This paper is a preliminary exploration of the potential linkages between commons and cooperatives through a discussion of the worker cooperative as one example of a labour commons. We view the worker coop as a response at once antagonistic and accommodative to capitalism. This perspective is amplified through a consideration of five aspects of an ideal-type worker cooperativism: associated labour, workplace democracy, surplus distribution, cooperation among cooperatives, and, controversially, links between worker cooperatives and socialist states. We conclude by suggesting that the radical potential of worker cooperatives might be extended, theoretically and practically, by elaborating connections with other commons struggles in a process we term the circulation of the common

A Share in the Harvest- A Feasiblity study for community supported agriculture

This feasibility study looks at how community supported agriculture (CSA) can help in the development of local and sustainable food economies. It investigates community involvement in farming around the globe and in a number of established and planned CSA initiatives in England. Eleven case studies provide the basis of discussion, along with relevant policy recommendations and areas for future research. The benefits of CSA include a more secure income and higher returns for farmers. Consumers have access to fresh food from an accountable source with an opportunity to reconnect with the land and influence the landscape they live in. CSA delivers environmental benefits of fewer food miles, less packaging and ecologically sensitive farming and sees the return of local distinctiveness and regional food production with higher employment, more local processing, local consumption and circulation of money in the community enhancing local economies

Knowledge Collaboration: Working with Data and Web Specialists

When resources are finite, people strive to manage resources jointly (if they do not rudely take possession of them). Organizing helps achieve—and even amplify—common purpose but often succumbs in time to organizational silos, teaming for the sake of teaming, and the obstacle course of organizational learning. The result is that organizations, be they in the form of hierarchies, markets, or networks (or, gradually more, hybrids of these), fail to create the right value for the right people at the right time. In the 21st century, most organizations are in any event lopsided and should be redesigned to serve a harmonious mix of economic, human, and social functions. In libraries as elsewhere, the three Ss of Strategy—Structure—Systems must give way to the three Ps of Purpose—Processes—People. Thence, with entrepreneurship and knowledge behaviors, data and web specialists can synergize in mutually supportive relationships of shared destiny

El Estado de las cooperativas de consumo: un enfoque de abajo hacia arriba

Este trabajo parte de la duda sobre la continuidad y el futuro de las cooperativas de consumo. Para ello, realiza un análisis estadístico de la evolución de la Economía Social y sitúa, dentro del contexto VICA, a las cooperativas de consumo, con una perspectiva escalar que permite tener una visión territorial de Andalucía, España y Europa. Apoyado en el método científico inductivo (análisis descriptivo), la investigación traza la evolución y la situación actual de las cooperativas de consumo, abriendo un debate sobre el estrenado decrecimiento de estas empresas de Economía Social. Las principales derivaciones señalan una situación crítica y una desvinculación del ámbito local. Sin embargo, fuera del cuantitativismo, en las redes sociales, se observa un fortalecimiento de los valores del cooperativismo de consumo que podría abrir una nueva vía de crecimiento.This paper starts from the doubt about the continuity and the future of the consumer cooperatives. To do this, it carries out a statistical analysis of the evolution of the Social Economy and situates, within the VICA context, the consumer cooperatives, with a scalar perspective that allows having a territorial view of Andalusia, Spain and Europe. Based on the scientific inductive method (descriptive analysis), the research describes the evolution and the current situation of the consumer cooperatives, opening a debate about the first decline of these enterprises of Social Economy. The main conclusions show a critical situation and a disconnection from the local scope. However, outside of quantitative, in social networks there is a strengthening of the values of consumer co-operatives that could open a new path of growth

The embeddedness of global production networks: The impact of crisis on Fiji's garment export sector

In this paper the author explores how changing geopolitical conditions reconfigure network embeddedness and theorises the conditions of network disconnection and transformation. Through a case study of the changes in interfirm relationships within the Fiji – Australia garment-production network after Fiji’s 2000 political coup d’état, the author develops a relational and dynamic view of embeddedness, highlighting its multifaceted and multiscalar character and emphasising the interrelationships between embeddedness, trust, and power

A new research agenda into community-based protest in construction

Many countries face enormous development challenges in adapting to demographic change, urbanisation and emerging issues such as housing affordability and climate change. These challenges are best resolved in consultation with communities rather than in conflict with them. A rich tradition of research and intellectual frameworks exist in the fields of urban geography and planning to understand and manage community concerns during the pre-development approval stages of new projects. However current theoretical frameworks are inadequate in construction management and a new research agenda is needed to develop conceptual frameworks to guide thinking about the role of communities in the construction process. By discussing the components of such a model, it is concluded that this would require a fundamental shift in thinking which challenges traditional structuralist paradigms. A new constructivist paradigm is presented that conceives community consultation as a negotiation process which does not stop at the pre-development planning stages but which continues over the entire life of a project