Chapter 4: Social enterprises and democracy in countries with transitional or authoritarian regimes
Restricted access

The focus of this chapter is to examine to what degree, in the context of transitional or authoritarian political regimes, social enterprise might lead to democratization of (civil) society more broadly. The literature suggests that we might expect social enterprises to have limited independence in such a context; thus, the best we might hope for is to encourage social enterprises to provide meaningful participation and identification with others—the minimum necessary to resist authoritarianism and lead to democratization. Theories and empirical evidence is limited mostly to western, democratic countries, but suggests that social enterprises may be able to do this to some degree if they emphasize their sociality or relational and emancipatory aspects over commercial goals. Future research should examine connections between social enterprise and active participation and identification in transitional and authoritarian countries.

You are not authenticated to view the full text of this chapter or article.

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Other access options

Redeem Token

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institutional Access

Personal login

Log in with your Elgar Online account

Login with your Elgar account
Monograph Book