Home Page > Digital libraries > Trento 2009

Call for papers

2nd EMES International Conference on
Social Enterprise

Organized by:
EMES European Research Network
EURICSE (European Research Institute on Cooperatives and Social Enterprises)
IRIS Network (Istituto di Ricerca sull'Impresa Sociale)

1-4 July 2009
Trento, Italy

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction

The development of economic activities in the framework of organizations with
a social mission is not a new phenomenon. Private economic institutions
supplying general-interest services have long been a crucial part of the social,
economic and political history in advanced and post-communist countries, as
well as in developing countries. However, only in recent years have social
enterprises and social entrepreneurship been acknowledged as welfare actors
and as initiatives providing a solution to a number of current problems and
challenges induced by both global and regional trends. Their contribution
appears all the more relevant as new needs grow and become more
diversified, public policies face new challenges and, consequently, the twopole
paradigm centred around the “state” and the “market” proves to be
unsustainable.
Against this background, social enterprises and social entrepreneurship have
raised increasing interest, all around the world, on the part of scholars from
different disciplines, including economics, sociology, management, political
science, law, history and anthropology. Research networks aiming to valorise
theoretical and empirical accomplishments in this field have been set up. New
legal frameworks and public policies for social enterprises have been
implemented in a number of countries with the goal of sustaining the
development of these initiatives. Furthermore, increasing attention has been
paid to social enterprises and social entrepreneurship dynamics as poverty
reduction agents in countries that are affected by severe gaps in the provision
of general-interest services and by rising unemployment among certain target
groups.
Nevertheless, research on issues related to social enterprises and social
entrepreneurship often appears to be very country and discipline-specific. For
multi-disciplinary and more comprehensive approaches to be developed, more
interaction among scholars with various backgrounds and coming from various
countries is needed. Since the EMES European Research Network was set up,
in the mid-1990s, such a twofold comparative perspective has always been its
main distinctive feature.

With the goal of investigating the abovementioned themes, EMES has so far
organized numerous events and scientific seminars, such as the scientific
seminar hosted by the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship of Roskilde
University (Denmark) in 2007 or the 1st EMES PhD Summer School in Corsica
(France) in July 2008. In partnership with the newly created European centre
EURICSE in Trento and the Italian IRIS Network, EMES is now pleased to
announce the 2nd EMES International Conference on Social Enterprise, which
will take place on 1-4 July 2009.
Hosted by EURICSE and the University of Trento, the Conference aims to
gather scholars from all regions of the world - both senior and early-stage
researchers - who have recently contributed to enrich the research and debate
on social enterprise and social entrepreneurship, in advanced as well as in
developing and transition countries.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^

Conference Scientific Committee

Ash Amin, Durham University, United Kingdom
Carlo Borzaga, University of Trento, Italy
Jacques Defourny, University of Liege, Belgium
Lars Hulgård, Roskilde University, Denmark
Jean-Louis Laville, CNAM/LISE, France
Ewa Leś, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Alex Nicholls, Oxford University, United Kingdom
Marthe Nyssens, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Roger Spear, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Dennis Young, Georgia State University, United States

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^

Research themes

All topics related to social enterprises and social entrepreneurship are
welcome. Nonetheless, the Conference will mainly focus on:
1) Conceptual aspects
2) Legal frameworks and public policies
3) Theoretical analyses across disciplines
4) Innovation, entrepreneurship and social enterprise
5) Management issues
6) Governance models

Theme 1: Conceptual aspects
Definitions of social enterprise at the international level vary considerably,
and a number of authors use the notions of social entrepreneurship, social
enterprise and social entrepreneur interchangeably. This complexity can be
ascribed to the country-specific nature of this phenomenon, which is itself
linked to the various socio-political cultures that prevail at the national
level. Contributors are encouraged to focus on conceptual aspects with the goal
of identifying the main characteristic of social enterprises and promoting
comprehensive conceptual frameworks that can overcome national
specificities.

Theme 2: Legal frameworks and public policies
From a legal point of view, social enterprises are still poorly or not
acknowledged at all in a considerable number of countries; this is
particularly true in transition and developing countries. But despite this
overall lack of regulations, some interesting practices can be found in
various countries of all continents, where innovative legal frameworks and
support policies specifically designed for social enterprises have been
introduced.
Contributions should focus on relevant legal aspects and public schemes
that can play a role in either favouring or jeopardizing the development of
social enterprises.

Theme 3: Theoretical analyses across disciplines
Whereas traditional theoretical studies have so far paid little attention to
the role played by organizations that pursue goals other than profitmaximisation
in promoting the interests of stakeholders other than
investors, innovative contributions have been provided by scholars who
question the main assumptions of mainstream economic theory.
There is a still a need for contributions seeking to synthesise the main
findings of recent theoretical developments, including for instance the
social, political and economic rationale of social enterprises and social
entrepreneurship as well as their competitive advantages/limitations in
comparison to alternative institutional settings (i.e. public and for-profit
enterprises).

Theme 4: Innovation, entrepreneurship and social enterprise
Social enterprises have emerged throughout the world as innovative
organizations, both in terms of services supplied and processes adopted.
They are engaged in a number of fields of activity that are most often
related to both market and government failures. Whereas social service
provision and work integration are being developed in many regions, news
fields of activity, such as fair trade, culture and environmental services are
increasingly explored and are witnessing innovative practices of social
entrepreneurship. In some developing or transition countries, the provision
of general-interest services (such as water, electricity and gas supply)
appears to play a crucial role.
Contributions may focus on the social innovation processes brought about
by social enterprises and social entrepreneurship in their various fields of
activity as well as on the specific characteristics of the services supplied.
Analyses of early-stage entrepreneurship in the creation of these
innovative services are also encouraged.

Theme 5: Management issues
Specific management theories and strategies, tailor-made for social
enterprises and social entrepreneurship, have been developed in recent
years in order to exploit the specific features that distinguish these
enterprises from traditional firms. Contributors are encouraged to focus on conceptual aspects with the goal
of identifying the main characteristic of social enterprises and promoting
comprehensive conceptual frameworks that can overcome national
specificities.

Theme 6: Legal frameworks and public policies
From a legal point of view, social enterprises are still poorly or not
acknowledged at all in a considerable number of countries; this is
particularly true in transition and developing countries. But despite this
overall lack of regulations, some interesting practices can be found in
various countries of all continents, where innovative legal frameworks and
support policies specifically designed for social enterprises have been
introduced.
Contributions should focus on relevant legal aspects and public schemes
that can play a role in either favouring or jeopardizing the development of
social enterprises.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^

Submission Formats

Paper sessions

Researchers worldwide are encouraged to send their submissions for
scientific paper sessions. All abstracts for Paper sessions should be
prepared in A4 MS Word format (Times New Roman, size 12 fonts, singlespaced)
and be no more than 500 words in length. Authors' full title,
name, address, organization and e-mail address should be included at the
end of the abstract.
The Conference also welcomes PhD students interested in sharing their
research ideas with the wider research community through:
PhD paper sessions
The aim of these sessions is to provide a specialized space to PhD
students. Abstracts for PhD paper sessions should be prepared in A4 MS
Word format (Times New Roman, size 12 font, single-spaced) and be no
more than 300 words in length. Students' full name, university, address, email
address, thesis title and main research topics should be included in
the abstract. Advanced PhD students may prefer to submit abstracts for
regular paper sessions.

Additionally, a special session hosted by the EMES PhD Student Network
(created after the 1st EMES PhD Summer School) will be organized during the
conference. This special session, open to all PhD students, will include some
parallel discussions led by EMES members with the aim of networking, sharing
ideas, and interacting with professors and senior researchers.

Important Dates

The title of the communications and abstracts in English should be submitted
(by e-mail only) b y 30 January 2009 to the following e-mail address:
emesconference@euricse.eu

Applications will be carefully reviewed by the Scientific Committee.
Contributors whose applications are accepted will be notified by 28 February
2009.
Final papers should be submitted by 30 May 2009.
F o r m o r e informat ion about the Conference, please contact
emesconference@euricse.eu.

About the Organizers

About the EMES European Research Network - Created in 1996, EMES
has developed into a leading research network focused on the study of social
enterprises and third sector organizations. On the basis of a large European
research project carried out over five years, the Network organized the 1st
EMES International Conference, titled The Social Enterprise. A comparative
perspective, at the University of Trento in 2001. This event and the first EMES
book, The Emergence of Social Enterprise (Routledge, 2001), launched the
topic of “social enterprise” as a research theme on the European scene. They
also succeeded in promoting a more widespread knowledge of the concept of
social enterprise, both in Europe and outside Europe, and pinpointed new
research themes that have been thoroughly investigated in recent years.
EMES also promotes the development of innovative analytical frameworks on
social enterprise among scholars engaged in third sector research through
events such as the European conferences co-organized with the International
Society for Third Sector Research in 2005 and 2008. As a founding member of
the University Network for Social Entrepreneurship, EMES is also committed to
strengthening an emerging community of researchers across the world via
scientific publications, syllabi and other course materials as well as an on-line
platform for exchanges. EMES has been publishing the results of its research
in the form of seminal books and a Working Papers series (the latter is
available at www.emes.net).

About EURICSE - EURICSE is a newly established research centre that is
committed to further developing research and training activities carried out by
the Institute for the Development of Non-profit Organizations (ISSAN –
University of Trento). It was founded by the Federazione Trentina delle
Cooperative, the University of Trento, Cooperatives Europe, the Province of
Trento, and the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio of Trento and Rovereto. It is
devoted to the study of co-operatives and social enterprises, along various
disciplinary perspectives. EURICSE is a centre for analysis and debate with a
high scientific profile open to collaboration with the scientific community and,
in particular, young researchers. The Institute also interacts directly with
cooperatives and social enterprises themselves (see www.euricse.eu).

About IRIS Network - Iris Network is an Italian Network that gathers the
research institutes aiming to study social enterprises in Italy. It was
established to support and disseminate empirical research and theoretical
studies, with the goal of favouring a deeper understanding of social
enterprises. Against this background, IRIS promotes debates and exchanges
among institutes, research centres, universities and individual researchers,
while also favouring the involvement of social entrepreneurs (see
www.irisnetwork.it).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^

Conference's official web site

Please check the conference's official web site for updates and further details.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^