Editorial

Citation

Doherty, B. (2012), "Editorial", Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 8 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/sej.2012.37308caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Social Enterprise Journal, Volume 8, Issue 3

I am delighted to introduce to you the Social Enterprise Journal’s third edition of 2012 published by Emerald. Firstly, I would like to thank the journal board, the selected reviewers and of course the authors for the papers enclosed. Also after introducing the papers I will provide notification of a number of forthcoming events and special issues.

The first paper co-authored by Dr Rory Ridley-Duff from Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Business School, UK and Cliff Southcombe from Social Enterprise Europe is an exploratory study investigating the conceptual dimensions and legitimacy of the social enterprise mark (SEM). This is both an excellent and timely paper as the SEM is being promoted at a time when the discourse surrounding the definition of social enterprise is intensifying. The second paper by Dr Nuria Toledano from the Faculty of Business at the University of Huelva in Spain is a very welcome paper contributing to a better understanding of social entrepreneurship in the African context. The paper unpacks the different meanings of the “social” in social entrepreneurship narratives. SEJ has plans for a 2014 special issue on Social Enterprise in Africa, so this paper is a platform to build from.

The third paper co-authored by Dr Peter Elson at the Institute for Non Profit Studies at Mount Royal University Calgary, Canada and Peter Hall at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver provides a very useful overview of the social enterprise sector in Canada. The fourth paper by Professor John Thompson at Huddersfield University Business School UK is a case Study exploring social entrepreneurship, environmental improvement and volunteering in the context of the UK’s declared Big Society. This paper investigates the UK social enterprise called Incredible Edible based in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. The fifth paper by Stephen Ko from The Hong Kong University Polytechnic, Management and Marketing Division draws on the theory of social categorisation, and develops a model that outlines how a violation of the legitimacy of a single social enterprise may result in negative consequences for other social enterprises.

As a result of a successful Fourth International Fair Trade symposium in April 2012 we have planned a special issue of SEJ titled, “Where next for fair trade”. This timely special issue on fair trade invites empirical and theoretical papers which critique underlying assumptions inherent in the existing fair trade literature. Suggested themes and topics include, but are not limited to:

• •

  Value distribution from north to south.

• •

  Public and private certification and standard-setting.

• •

  The organisational and entrepreneurial dimension of fair trade.

• •

  Producers and fair trade.

• •

  Global connections in a broader context.

Informal enquiries should be directed to the co-editor of this special issue including the editor of the Social Enterprise Journal Dr Bob Doherty on dohertb@hope.ac.uk and also guest editor Dr Benjamin Huybrechts b.huybrechts@ulg.ac.be (Assistant Professor), Centre for the Social Economy at the University of Liege. The deadline for submissions is 1 November 2012.

In addition, I am also pleased to announce details of the 4th EMES International Research Conference on Social Enterprise, “If Not For Profit, For What? And How?”, July 1-4, 2013, University of Liege, Belgium. In a truly worldwide and interdisciplinary perspective, this conference will discuss social enterprise and social entrepreneurship through the growing diversity of approaches that have developed in the last two decades. In such a perspective, the conference will bring together research streams related to the third sector (non-profit sector, cooperatives, social economy, solidarity economy and civil society) and emerging research communities around social innovation, social investment, venture philanthropy, hybrid organisations, etc.

Social enterprises are developing in a variety of fields (social services, health, education, culture, environment, finance, etc.) and can be examined through diverse analytical grids. In order to organise the research discussion across fields and disciplines, the conference will be structured along ten main thematic lines:

1. 1.

   Concepts and models of social enterprise.

2. 2.

   Social entrepreneurs, opportunities and creation processes.

3. 3.

   Social innovation.

4. 4.

   Civil society and social movements.

5. 5.

   Financing social enterprise.

6. 6.

   Labour and employment.

7. 7.

   Governance of social enterprise.

8. 8.

   Communication and marketing.

9. 9.

   Performance assessment.

10. 10.

    Institutionalisation and public policy.

Abstracts should be submitted before 30 November 2012 to the e-mail address Lg13@emes.net. They should not exceed 600 words and not be less than 400 words in length, excluding bibliography. They should at least include three distinct sections: short survey of literature; research question(s); and methodology. Authors’ full name, title, address, organisation and e-mail address should be included with the abstract. A maximum of two abstracts per author will be accepted. Panel proposals including three or four abstracts are also particularly welcome. For further details, see the full call for papers on www.emes.net

The conference will include special events and activities such as the Third Forum on Education and Training in Social Entrepreneurship/Social Enterprise (FETSE), which aims to foster exchanges and partnerships among university programmes, as well as a guided tour of emblematic social enterprises in Liege. In addition, the programme will include poster sessions especially devoted to early-stage researchers and PhD students. As in previous EMES international conferences, a special session hosted by the EMES PhD Student Network will be open to all PhD students, with the aim of networking, sharing ideas, and interacting with professors and senior researchers. More information on the programme and registration procedure will be made available soon. The Social Enterprise Journal will be present and we will be sponsoring both the best track papers and the overall best conference paper.

Bob Doherty