Tip of the Iceberg

Keywords

social enterprise, civil society, fair trade, socially responsible investing, economic sociology

Abstract

Market-based solutions to social and environmental problems in the form of for-profit social enterprise ventures have attracted considerable attention in recent years. According to popular discourse, the reason for their appeal is that they are not dependent on government grants or charitable support and are therefore more efficient and sustainable than existing alternatives. Using data collected from two social enterprise industries, this article challenges that discourse. It concludes that even though the recent focus on market-based ventures crowds out the importance of philanthropic ones, social enterprises rely substantially on civil society to accomplish their prosocial missions. By shifting attention away from the nonprofit–government relationship and toward the nonprofit–business one, these findings have implications for theorizing in nonprofit studies.

Original Publication Citation

Child, Curtis. 2016. “Tip of the Iceberg: The Nonprofit Underpinnings of For-Profit Social Enterprise.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 45(2):217–237.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2015-03-08

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5519

Publisher

Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations & Voluntary Action

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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