6.5. The Social EntrepreneurHybrid
"If you can capture the youth and change the way they think, then you
can change the future."
With the American presidential campaign in full swing, the
obvious way to change the world might seem to be through politics.
But growing numbers of young people are leaping into the fray
and doing the job themselves. These are the social entrepreneurs, the
21st-century answer to the student protesters of the 1960s, and they are
some of the most interesting people here at the World Economic
Forum…
Today the most remarkable young people are the social
entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their
sleeves to address it in new ways. …
… Only one person can become president of the United States,
but there's no limit to the number of social entrepreneurs who can make
this planet a better place. (KRISTOF: 2008.)
The expansive development of civil society has been documented by, among
others, a Johns Hopkins study of eight developed countries that found employment
in the civil sector grew two and a half times faster than for the overall economy,
between 1990 and 1995. This worldwide mobilization of citizens is new in several
respects: It is occuring on a scale never before seen; organizations are more globally
dispersed and diverse than in the past and increasingly, we find organizations
moving beyond local solutions to more systemic approaches to problems. (SMITH
and BORGMANN: 2001.)
Citizen organizations are less constrained by the church and state in their
activities and can exert considerable pressure. They are forging partnerships with
businesses, academic institutions, and governments – and, in many cases, refining
the government’s and international organization’s representational function and
accountability. This formerly restricted sector has suddenly opened up and new
players are crowding onto the field. As a result, the citizen sector is experiencing the
beneficial effects of entrepreneurialism, increased competition and collaboration,
and a heightened attention to performance and efficiency. (BORNSTEIN: 2004, p. 5.)
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