New development: Myth or reality? The public sector’s growing appetite to procure from the third sector
TL;DR: In this paper, the third sector can generate important benefits for local authorities, third sector organizations, and wider society, and policy documents increasingly include third sector information and services in policy documents.
Abstract: Purchasing from the third sector can generate important benefits for local authorities, third sector organizations and wider society. Accordingly, policy documents increasingly include third sector...
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors synthesize major evolutions experienced by social enterprises across Europe and the key challenges they are facing; and specific members of the EMES European Research Network provide a more in-depth update as to current trends and debates in their respective countries.
Abstract: Purpose – Twelve years ago, the concept of social enterprise was rarely discussed in Europe, however it is now making significant breakthroughs in European Union (EU) countries. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize major evolutions experienced by social enterprises across Europe and the key challenges they are facing; and specific members of the EMES European Research Network provide a more in‐depth update as to current trends and debates in their respective countriesDesign/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a comparative analysis of the different institutions (legal frameworks, public policies, supporting structures, public procurement policies …) which support the development of social enterprises in the different EU countries. To delimit the field, the paper relies on the “ideal‐type” social enterprise as defined by the EMES network: “Social enterprises are not‐for‐profit private organizations providing goods or services directly related to their explicit aim to be...
638 citations
"New development: Myth or reality? T..." refers background in this paper
...In addition, public sector contracting of third sector organizations, and particularly of social enterprises, can be a strategy for public authorities to increase the public value of public contracts (Defourny & Nyssens, 2008, p. 211)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that governance of the dispersed state is being extended into the quasi-private realm of voluntary and community organisations and their activities, and distinguish the formal and operational dimensions of governance, and argue that the goal of partnership carves out a newly governable terrain, which is to be organized through the operational governance mechanisms of procurement and performance.
Abstract: In this article we argue that governance of the 'dispersed state' is being extended into the quasi-private realm of voluntary and community organisations and their activities. Focusing on public service delivery, we distinguish the formal and operational dimensions of governance, and argue that the goal of partnership carves out a newly governable terrain - the third sector - which is to be organised through the operational governance mechanisms of procurement and performance. The result is the attempted normalisation of VCOs as market-responsive, generic service providers, disembedded from their social and political contexts and denuded of ethical or moral content and purpose. Reprinted by permission of the Policy Press, University of Bristol, School for Advanced Urban Studies
235 citations
"New development: Myth or reality? T..." refers background in this paper
...…an increased focus on competition, third sector organizations as (potential) providers of contracted services have been ‘lauded as generators of competition and contestability in public services provisions, and especially as sources of public service modernisation’ (Carmel & Harlock, 2008, p. 155)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the European historical history of social enterprise and its application in various regions of the world, including the UK and the US, and present a survey of the European social enterprise landscape.
185 citations
"New development: Myth or reality? T..." refers background in this paper
...Public contracts are an important source of income for many third sector organizations (Defourny & Nyssens, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2008, p. 210; Defourny & Nyssens, 2010, p. 237; Furneaux & Barraket, 2014, p. 265)....
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05 Jun 2014
TL;DR: Social enterprise and the third sector: changing European landscapes in a comparative perspective as mentioned in this paper, where social enterprise and third sector are compared in the context of the third-party market and the social enterprise.
Abstract: Social enterprise and the third sector : changing European landscapes in a comparative perspective
131 citations
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The third sector is unsuited to singular definitions because it is by its nature unruly as discussed by the authors, thus, different definitions or theorizations can be identified, and different views on what it is made up of and what is excluded.
Abstract: According to some, the third sector is unsuited to singular definitions because it is by its nature unruly. However, different definitions or theorizations can be identified. Ontologically oriented definitions of the third sector offer differing views on what it is made up of and what is excluded. Thus, an “American” view defines it as a separate sector characterized by organized, private, nonprofit, and voluntary entities. A “European” definition sees it as a hybrid phenomenon combining and connecting other sectors such as state and market (this allows social enterprises and [welfare] state bodies in). In contrast, epistemologically oriented theorizations treat the third sector more as a process or form of practice: a particular type of communication (following systems theory), a form of ordering and governing of people (following discourse theory), or a form of struggle or dialogue between social forces (following critical theory).
120 citations
"New development: Myth or reality? T..." refers background in this paper
...…comprises organizations that cannot be classified as belonging to either the public or the private sector and that, in other words, do not pertain to ‘the state or market categories’ (Corry, 2010, p. 11), has gained increasing importance and has become a commonlyaccepted concept (Defourny, 2014)....
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