Social Entrepreneurs, Local Initiatives and Social Economy: Foundations for a Socially Innovative Strategy to Fight against Poverty and Exclusion

This paper presents a synthetic analysis of local initiatives put in action by social entrepreneurs. On the basis of six case studies carried out in Quebec, the authors describe the context where local initiatives take place, the conditions of their success as well as a holistic model including their territorial effect. The paper shows that local initiatives can modify the factors provoking poverty and exclusion, and, therefore, devitalisation of local communities. The authors affirm that local initiatives can revitalise the community by implementing social entrepreneurship. However, they also show that the success of a local initiatives-based strategy requires the commitment of all stakeholders (private firms, public agencies and third sector organisations). Such a commitment should emerge within a context of a flexible and pluralistic model of governance. >. Ce texte propose une reflexion globale au sujet des initiatives locales amorcees par des entrepreneurs sociaux. Basee sur des etudes de cas realisees au Quebec, cette reflexion degage le contexte dans lequel ces initiatives se mettent en oeuvre, leurs conditions de reussite ainsi qu'un modele explicatif global de leur dynamique. Le texte cherche a montrer que des initiatives locales peuvent inflechir les tendances qui president a l'appauvrissement et a l'exclusion qui provoquent la devitalisation des collectivites locales. Les auteurs soutiennent que les initiatives locales redynamisent la collectivite et creent un contexte d'entrepreneuriat social, mais ils montrent en meme temps que la reussite d'une strategie basee sur ces initiatives exige l'engagement de l'ensemble des acteurs de la societe (prives, publics et sociaux). Cet engagement doit prendre forme dans le contexte d'une gouvernance flexible et plurielle. ********** The objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive reflection on the topic of development through local initiatives by social entrepreneurs who mobilize resources ofthe social economy in order to fight poverty and exclusion at the local level. The reflection is based on a set of case studies which were undertaken in the context of a research program on territorial reconversion and socio-territorial innovation. By territorial reconversion, we mean the institutional and organizational changes that take place in local collectivities as the result of voluntary actions aiming to adapt those collectivities to the changing global economic environment. By socio-territorial innovation we mean the new social configurations and governance modalities that coordinate the actions which allow for the reconversion. While those case studies have already given rise to many publications and communications, this paper differs in that we summarize the case studies in order to identify the context in which those initiatives are implemented, their conditions of success, as well as a comprehensive explanatory model of their territorial effect. For that purpose, we begin by discussing poverty and exclusion from a territorial perspective. Second, we indicate to what extent the social economy constitutes a major support for the development of local initiatives likely to reduce or counterbalance the process of impoverishment and exclusion in local collectivities. Here, we focus in particular on the context, namely, the Quebec model, where local development and the social economy are part of a socio-economic development strategy promoted by the government as well as by civil society. Third, we then summarize the cases that serve as our basis. These cases comprise initiatives launched by local social entrepreneurs who mobilized resources from the social economy, thereby tapping into larger networks and resources, either of endogenous or exogenous origin. Starting from those cases, we identify the conditions of success of the local initiatives, which will allow us, in the fourth step, to propose a more comprehensive interpretative model of their collective effect. …

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