Social Entrepreneurship in Germany

This empirical study shows how the concept of the social entrepreneurship developed in Germany from 1999 to 2021.

Public and political interest in social entrepreneurship (SE) is increasing while it remains a contested and ambiguous concept. Philipp Kenel traces the popular media representation of SE in Germany over time (19992021), making an important empirical contribution to the sociological and political understanding of the phenomenon. He shows that until 2008, SE was mainly understood as a reform of the welfare infrastructure (including public and non-profit institutions). From 2009, SE was increasingly conceptualised as part of the economy, while sometimes challenging and other times reaffirming mainstream economic logics. More recently, in somewhat competing perspectives, SE has been framed as part of the start-up world or as a force for deeper social and ecological transformation.

Autorentext
Philipp Kenel ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin. Seine Forschungs- und Lehrschwerpunkte sind sozialökologische Wirtschaftsformen und deren unternehmerische Ausprägungen, Praktiken und Diskurse, Sozialökonomie und -management. Er studierte Politikwissenschaft, Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Social Entrepreneurship, Englisch und Erziehungswissenschaft und promovierte 2023 an der Goldsmiths, University of London zum Social-Entrepreneurship-Diskurs in Deutschland.