A key feature of late capitalism continues to be a complex reworking of previous approaches to the relationship between the state and business. This significant shift in the interplay between the public and private sectors has generated such developments as the privatisation of many services formerly provided by government and the growth of not-for-profit organisations seeking to fill gaps in service provision. These changes are highly significant for every citizen and community member and for all stakeholders. This first chapter in this book encapsulates these complex developments in terms of debates about the enabling imperatives of the contemporary state, the character of the intersection between capital and enterprise, and a timely confrontation of what is understood by “the social” in current discourses, policies and strategies. In presenting this distillation, the authors introduce the subsequent chapters in the book in terms of how each chapter, including this one, contributes new insights to the broader project of eliciting the issues and implications attendant on researching contemporary social capital and social enterprise. This project is crucial if we are to understand the ways in which social capital and social enterprise can work sustainably and transformatively with variously marginalised and vulnerable groups in our societies. It is vital also for understanding the ways that such work is constrained and limited in its effectiveness
