SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC AUSTERITY: A SPARKLE OF LIGHT FOR THE ECONOMIES IN CRISIS?

Even though Social entrepreneurship as a concept dates back to the second half of the 18th, it is still poorly defined. It has been defined via the use of terms such as social enterprise, social innovation, nonprofit ventures and social responsibility. Its boundaries to the other fields are unclear and its practice is in low level. However, social entrepreneurship is an emerging area of entrepreneurship, and literature on this field, has grown the last two decades. It attracts attention mainly to its high importance for the economies in terms of social and economic value creation. This paper studies social entrepreneurship and its role in economies of austerity, with emphasis placed on European countries and it provides a mapping of the situation. “When we will stop thinking the poor people as victims and instead recognize them as creative and future entrepreneurs the sparkle of light will be the sun”.