Social Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice

This is a very serious book. Ryszard Praszkier is a researcher at the University of Warsaw whose main interest is profound, peaceful social transition for the good of all. His entire life has been dedicated to social change and he was active about social change for Solidarity rose to power and the Wall came down. Ryszard is also an erudite sociologist. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP adeptly examines numerous "how-to" theories of social change. It compares and contrasts conceptual models which fit some situations but not others - and sometimes even seem to be in conflict with each other. Other than advocating profound, peaceful social transition and the positive process of systemic change, Ryszard does not seem to favor one model over another but instead illustrates through examples of people who are really making social change on a mass, if not continental, scale how each theoretical concept can be seen to fit into the whole. From the dynamics of social change, through the concept of social capitol, through "transformational" change, even tackling the insoluble, intractable social problems confronting the world today, Ryszard provides a coherent insight, clearly delineated, well reasoned thoughtful and sometimes painfully honest examination of what we understand about social change and where the whole "field" of social entrepreneurship is today. This is not a book for those who seek hack rip-off simplistic understanding of the nature of social change. This book is for those who are serious students, who have both an intellectual and practical desire to truly study the underlie sociological concepts (and "science" as much as any thing that is sociological truly falls into the scientific category because the work here is extremely well annotated and footnoted and genuinely reflects the state-of-the-art sociological thinking among many whose lives are dedicated to improving our social lot and well-being, as well as really understanding the mechanisms of change and the methods of those who are most untactful. That is to say - this work, while not being a difficult read, is not for the faint of heart. This is for serious students who really want "to eat the whole thing" (so to speak). I highly recommend this book because there is a bona fide paradigm shift here and one that has to do with changing society by dealing with the underlying motivators and structures that have resulted in the evolution of the status quo. And also because aside from being extremely intelligent, it just plain makes a whole lot of common sense. It will definitely make you think. A veritable gold mine for those who want to solve the insoluble, intractable social problems, who seek a profound transition transformation to the hopefully better world of tomorrow for the good of all. An absolute must read!

Social Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice is well worth the time of anyone interested in the field.In a nice difference to many other books on the subject, this book situates social entrepreneurship to broader theories of social change. For me, this is the unique and valuable contribution the book makes.My only hesitation about recommending the book as a stand alone reader on the subject of social entrepreneurship is that the focus is decidedly heroic. This book like many do a great job of looking into the actions of successful individuals in the field. I would like to see complementary discussion about social entrepreneurship as these ventures operate in organizational, community, and larger levels of interaction.Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book as a concise review of social entrepreneurship as an approach to address complex social problems.

The only way to get ahead is to start with an idea and build something from that. Working for someone else will never get you ahead.