Social entrepreneurship and the social economy of Victorian and Edwardian Britain

Mairi Maclean, Charles Harvey, Michael Price, Victor Harlow

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Abstract

Taking Northeast England as our proving ground, we argue that social entrepreneurship played a highly productive role in deepening the social economy of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Social enterprises flourished in the fields of community welfare, education, healthcare, recreation, and religion, enriching innumerable lives, and creating value at scale for both economy and society. Analysis of data relating to 3,919 Northeast social enterprises active between 1835 and 1914 reveals that social innovations spread rapidly from one locality to another in waves, as activists emulated developments elsewhere, within the region and beyond. We identify the factors that made this possible and reconceptualise social entrepreneurship as a collective endeavour led by social activists with support from the wider community and members of the business, professional, and ecclesiastical elites. In demonstrating how resources were once routinely mobilised by social enterprises, we provide a standard against which to evaluate social entrepreneurship in the present.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-27
Number of pages27
JournalBusiness History
Early online date10 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 10 Jan 2025

Funding

This work was supported by Research Impact Fund of Newcastle University Business School.

Keywords

  • Philanthropy
  • Victorian and Edwardian Britain
  • social economy
  • social enterprise
  • social entrepreneurship
  • social movement
  • voluntary sector

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous)
  • History

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