La empresa social en España y en Italia durante la crisis ¿un laboratorio de innovación económica y social?

Abstract

The contribution explores the development of social enterprises in Spain and Italy in the framework of the economic and social crisis. Comparing the spread of the phenomena and its legal framework, we define the boundaries of the "ecosystem" of social enterprises in the two countries, identifying commonalities and specificities. The hypothesis is that the social enterprise represents a proactive tool for generating responses to the crisis, promoting economic and social trajectories of innovation and contributing to a sustainable development model. Innovation comes from the power of social enterprises to generate innovative responses to emerging demands and from the ability to create both social and economic value, to meet individual and collective spheres, enabling paths of change in the medium and in the long term and promoting the empowerment processes in the local dimension. Yet, the innovative character of the social enterprise does not merely arise from the externalization of social services from the public to the third sector, in order to reduce public ex - penditure. Instead, behind the rhetoric of social innovation it can hide projects to reduce public service through cutting down on wages and the quality of services. The article compares the presence and prospects of development of the phenomenon in Italy and Spain and, finally, offers a critical reflection on the risks and opportunities related to the spread of the social enterprise, as it is characterized by a novel integration between solidarity action and economic action, in entrepreneurial practices serving a social purpose.