Understanding the Social Economy, Social Capital and the Third Sector

by Bridge, Simon; Murtagh, Brendan; O'Neill, Ken

• ISBN13: 9780230518131
• ISBN10: 0230518133
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The third sector is one of the fastest-growing areas of management study. It has also been identified as a key area of government strategy and investment. For many, the debate about the third sector and the social economy can be confusing. This introductory text makes sense of the field, in the UK and internationally. It presents an overview of its key concepts, discussing their future implications as well as their relevance today.

Author Biography

SIMON BRIDGE is the Proprietor of Simon Bridge and Associates, an economic and enterprise development consultancy. Prior to that he was Enterprise Development Director of LEDU (Local Enterprise Development Unit). He has also served on the board of the UK Institute for Small Business Affairs and chaired the Northern Ireland Department of Economic Development's 'Pathfinder' taskforce on Enterprise.

BRENDAN MURTAGH is a Reader in the School of Environmental Planning at the Queen's University of Belfast, UK.

KEN O'NEILL is Professor of Enterprise and Small Business Development at the University of Ulster's Business School. He is a former President of the International Council of Small Business and the UK's Institute for Small Business Affairs. He is currently member of the European Foundation for Management Development's Small Business Committee.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables and Illustrations	p. viii
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Why Address the Social Economy?	p. 1
Introduction	p. 2
The appeal of the social economy	p. 4
The association with social capital	p. 10
The assumption of the third sector	p. 11
The acclaimed benefits	p. 13
The agenda of this book	p. 16
The Geography of the Third Sector
What is in an Economy?	p. 23
Introduction	p. 24
The evolution of an economy	p. 24
The sectors of an economy	p. 28
Mapping an economy	p. 31
Clear boundaries are not real	p. 35
A different perspective - the people behind the venture	p. 37
Describing the Third Sector	p. 44
Introduction	p. 45
What is in the third sector?	p. 46
Labelling and defining the third sector	p. 48
The fourth sector	p. 63
In conclusion	p. 63
The Social Economy and Social Enterprises	p. 71
Introduction	p. 72
The emergence of the social economy	p. 73
What is the social economy?	p. 75
Social enterprises	p. 80
Other components of the social economy	p. 89
The scale of the social economy	p. 103
Conclusions	p. 104
The Ecology of the Third Sector
The Nature of the Third Sector	p. 111
Introduction	p. 112
Founders	p. 113
Objectives	p. 114
Legal structures	p. 116
Ownership	p. 121
Organisation and management	p. 123
Employment	p. 129
Volunteers	p. 133
Rewards	p. 135
Measures of success	p. 137
Summary	p. 141
Financing the Third Sector	p. 146
Introduction	p. 147
Finance for third sector organisations	p. 148
Third sector finance schemes	p. 152
Financial instruments	p. 162
Financial skills for the third sector	p. 173
Conclusions	p. 175
Social Capital	p. 179
Introduction	p. 180
The concept of social capital	p. 181
Definitions and different forms of social capital	p. 182
The advantages of social capital	p. 186
Social capital and economic performance	p. 188
Social capital, networks and entrepreneurship	p. 191
Social capital and social enterprise	p. 194
Social capital and regeneration	p. 195
The dark side of social capital	p. 200
Measuring social capital	p. 202
Does the social economy create social capital?	p. 206
Promoting the Third Sector	p. 214
Introduction	p. 215
Why the third sector is promoted	p. 215
Who is promoting the social economy	p. 218
Where, and how, the social economy is promoted	p. 220
Conclusions	p. 243
The Impact of the Third Sector: Benefits, Audits and Evaluations	p. 249
Introduction	p. 250
Benefits	p. 250
Audits of the third sector	p. 256
Evaluations	p. 262
Conclusions	p. 273
Afterword
Looking Forwards	p. 279
Different perspectives on the third sector	p. 280
Looking at the future of the third sector	p. 286
Index	p. 298
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.