Transitioning Towards the Economy of Tomorrow; Starting Today

• Main Authors: Federici, Edoardo, Simons, Johannes
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS) 2019
• Subjects: degrowth; Social economy; Social Sciences; Samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22854

This research’s aim is to create a stronger connection between the degrowth movement’s proposals and the social entrepreneurial environment in Skåne. This topic was explored through two different methods. Firstly, the relevant literature was brought together to the end of creating a framework for understanding what the implications for social enterprises that intend to transition towards a post-growth economy would be. The framework created consists in four different criteria blocks: sustainable practices, focus on growth, organizational structures and collaboration. The framework created allowed the research to develop further and identify the obstacles to their implementations of the degrowth criteria met by the social entrepreneurs in the Skåne Region (Sweden). After having conducted four interviews with secondary social enterprises (accelerators, incubators and other hubs) and six interviews with social entrepreneurs working in the region, the research was able to identify several different obstacles. Divergent views and approaches to sustainability, a current necessary focus on profit maximization, difficulties of managing non-hierarchical organizations and other obstacles regarding collaboration practices were identified throughout the data analysis.Despite the many obstacles identified throughout the research, there was an interest and understanding present of the necessity to shift towards a more sustainable economic system, meaning an opportunity for researchers to further study this subject and possibly find ways toovercome the obstacles identified.