Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/288419 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Business Ethics [ISSN:] 1573-0697 [Volume:] 174 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Springer Netherlands [Place:] Dordrecht [Year:] 2020 [Pages:] 487-505
Publisher: 
Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht
Abstract: 
Social entrepreneurship is not just an objective description of a phenomenon; it also carries a positive normative connotation. However, the academic discourse barely reflects social entrepreneurship’s inherent normativity and often grounds it implicitly on the mission of a social enterprise. In this paper, we argue critically that it is insufficient to ground social entrepreneurship’s inherent normativity on a social mission. Instead, we will show how such a mission-centric conception of social entrepreneurship, when put into practice, is prone to enhance rather than diminish societal grievances. In order to give social entrepreneurship an explicit and sound ethical grounding, we draw on integrative economic ethics as a frame of reference. From this perspective, social entrepreneurship necessitates adherence to the discourse-ethically reasoned moral principle in order to live up to its inherent normative validity claim of good entrepreneurship. The consideration of social entrepreneurship practices is crucial to make this approach less vulnerable to ethical critique. The addition of a practice dimension overcomes the mission-centric view of social entrepreneurship and opens up a typology of enterprise forms, thereby enabling a more fine-grained distinction between social enterprises and other forms of organization.
Subjects: 
Normative critique of social entrepreneurship
Integrative economic ethics
Critique of economism
Social enterprise
Normativity
Discourse ethics
Typology
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.