Social enterprise: I’d heard of the concept before before but never took the time to try and understand. So, in search of enlightenment, I joined the interactive talk on whether social enterprise could be the best alternative to capitalism.
This talk was led by a Dr Andrew Reeves, as part of the Green Light Festival, someone who showed great enthusiasm in bringing about social change to the UK.
For those of you who don’t know, a social enterprise is a business which trades for a social purpose. As clearly illustrated in the session, these businesses don’t follow the scheme of having all the profits go to the boss and the shareholders. Instead it goes to everyone who has a stake within the business, all the workers who managed it equally, and is used to sustain the enterprise indefinitely.
Dr Reeves even provided some examples of social enterprises such as AFC Wimbledon, a football team created and managed by the fans when their original team moved to Milton Keynes. Local shops and community centres have increasingly become controlled by the locals and by the community.
A good question which was presented was when social enterprise is appropriate and when is it not. It doesn’t solve every problem but at least it does solve problems.
The session was enough to plant the idea within me that perhaps social enterprise is the way forward. I wonder if you’ll think the same.
S.M. Knight
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