Social Entrepreneurship in Mexico

Abstract

The main objective of this chapter is to show how social entrepreneurship favors endogenous development of indigenous communities to improve their quality of life, while contributing to the preservation of their cultural heritage and also promoting environmental protection and sustainable development. In this context and based on the approaches of the Theory of Entrepreneurship, it discusses what is meant by social entrepreneurship and the impact of social capital in the creation of such enterprises. To this end, and using case methodology, three Indigenous social enterprises located in Mexico are examined in depth, indicating how their distinct way of understanding the individual’s role in society or their concept of property determines a social capital embedded in their DNA as an indigenous people. In this sense, their collectivist culture shapes a type of enterprise that goes beyond the social, to one that may be called communal.