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The Local Construction of Social Enterprise Markets: An Evaluation of Jens Beckert's Field Approach

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  • Peter Sunley
  • Steven Pinch

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth of interest in social enterprises (SEs) and the intense controversies over their merits in addressing pressing social and economic issues, there has been surprisingly little attention given to explicit theorization of how the markets for their goods and services are constructed and maintained. Towards this end this paper examines the conceptualization of market fields formulated by Jens Beckert. His approach conceptualizes firms as engaged in a constant struggle to defend or improve their position in relation to other firms by either protecting existing structures or changing them to realize new opportunities. This framework is used to analyze the reciprocal interactions between forces of institutions, networks, and cognitive frameworks as they serve to construct opportunities for SE. These relationships are exemplified with evidence from respondents in SEs in four cities in England—Liverpool, Birmingham, Southampton, and the London Borough of Newham. The analysis suggests that Beckert's approach helps to move beyond a singular notion of a single ‘market logic’ and allows us to unpack some of the hybrid character of SE markets. However, because of the way in the field perspective has been designed to explain agency in orthodox capitalist markets, it struggles to incorporate the motivations that drive agency in these markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Sunley & Steven Pinch, 2014. "The Local Construction of Social Enterprise Markets: An Evaluation of Jens Beckert's Field Approach," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(4), pages 788-802, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:4:p:788-802
    DOI: 10.1068/a45605
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