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2014/2015  KAN-CSIEO2005U  Social Entrepreneurship

English Title
Social Entrepreneurship

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Course period Third Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc of Social Science
Course coordinator
  • Ester Barinaga - MPP
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship
Last updated on 14-08-2014
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
  • Demonstrate an ability to analyze the social entrepreneurial process.
  • Use the concepts and tools seen in the course to identify the elements that need to be considered to develop and strengthen entrepreneurial initiatives aiming at social change.
  • Explain and defend a position on issues concerning the social entrepreneurial process in situations that are yet unsettled by research.
  • Use the theoretical perspectives discussed in the course as a means of deciding questions involved in social entrepreneurial initiatives.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Number of mandatory activities: 1
Compulsory assignments (assessed approved/not approved)
There will be a mid-course evaluation based on a group assignment for class, graded pass/failed by one examiner.
A pass is required to participate in the regular exam.
Examination
Social Entrepreneurship:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Spring Term
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content and structure
Social entrepreneurship is a world-wide movement. From micro-finance initiatives to youth houses, fair trade soaps, and community-based art initiatives. There is however no agreement on the definition nor on the nature of the phenomenon that is being called “social entrepreneurship.” Yet, the increase of the discussion and the variety of initiatives do all have one thing in common: a will to achieve social change. The core of this course is social change through the parallel notion of social entrepreneurship. That is, we will look at entrepreneurship as a particular form of organizing for social transformation.
Some of the questions that we will explore throughout the course are: How should we think when designing initiatives aiming at social change? In what instances does a market rationality serve us better than a communitarian one? What conceptual and practical tools can be used in our strive to improve the lives of people and the health of our communities? How can the social be re-articulated in our efforts to catalyze social change?
In sum, we will be looking at rationalities, strategies and tools aiming at social change. For that purpose, we will be using the intellectual tools handed to us by the social sciences to both understand the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship and apply them to thecreation of students’ own social entrepreneurial ventures.
This course is venture based: It will be based on a social venture that students co-create. First because the most effective way to understand social entrepreneurship is to practice it. Second, because the course aims to promote a creative and proactive stance toward the society you live in, not merely an adaptive or critical one.
Thus, this course takes an experiential approach and students are expected to interact with civil society and the social entrepreneurial community, participate in class discussion, and be active participants in the teaching/learning process. Topics will include understanding the problem you want to address, assessing the opportunity, acknowledging the implicit theory of change, considering the venture’s organizational form, funding your initiative, building your board, pitching your initiative, and start assessing social impact.
This course appeals to students with a strong desire to become social entrepreneurs, or work in a social startup, early stage or social entrepreneurial minded company that may be pursued now or later in their careers. It is also for those students who are considering obtaining jobs in consulting, social venture capital, or social foundations where they are dealing with new or relatively new social ventures.
Teaching methods
The course will combine a variety of methods all within the environment of Studio-based pedagogy.
Expected literature
Please note that the listterature is guiding!

Battilana & Dorado. 2010. “Building sustainable hybrid organizations: The case of commercial microfinance organizations.” Academy of Management Journal.
Barinaga, E. 2012. “Overcoming Inertia: The social question in Social Entrepreneurship”. In Daniel Hjorth (ed.) Handbook on Organizational Entrepreneurship, pp. 242-256. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Barinaga, E. forthcoming. Social Entrepreneurship: Cases and Concepts. Studentlitteratur.
Barinaga, Ester. 2013. “Politicizing social entrepreneurship: Three social entrepreneurial rationalities for social change.” Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 4(3):347-372.
Bourdieu, P. 1986, “The Forms of Capital.” In John G. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research in the Sociology of Education.Greenwald Press, pp. 241-258.
Callon, M., C. Méadel and V. Rabeharisoa (2002). ”The Economy of Qualities.” Economy and Society 31 (2): 194-217.
Granovetter, M. 1973, “The strength of weak ties.” American Journal of Sociology, 78: 1360-1380.
Kania, J. & Mark Kramer. 2011. “Collective Impact.” Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Latour, Bruno. 1991. “Technology is society made durable”, in J. law (ed.) A sociology of Monsters. Essays on Power, technology and Domination. Sociological Review Monograph 38. London: Routledge.
Lakoff, George. 2004. “Preface: Reframing is Social Change”. In Don't Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate, pp.xv-xvi. Chelsea Green Publishing.
Muniesa, F. 2012. “A flank movement in the understanding of valuation.” The Sociological Review, 59(s2):24-38.
Putnam, R. and Kristin Goss, 2004, Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Ch.: Introduction, pp. 3-20.
Sarasvathy, Saras D. 2001. “Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency.” Academy of Management Review, 26(2): 243-263.
Snow, D.A. et al, 1986. “Frame Alignment Processes, Micro-mobilization, and Movements Participation” American Sociological Review, 51(4):464-481
Swedberg, R. 2006. “Social Entrepreneurship: The View of the Young Schumpeter.” In C.Steyaert and D.Hjorth (eds.), Entrepreneurship as Social Change: A third movement in entrepreneurship. Edward Elgar. 
Vatin, 2013. “Valuation as Evaluating and Valorizing”. Valuation Studies, 1(1):31-50
Last updated on 14-08-2014