[12.10.2008]
The term social economy is used to cover those
organisations in the ‘not for personal profit’ sector and is located between
the public and private sector but is distinct from both. Organisations
operating within the social economy are often linked to wider economic and
social regeneration whereby the wider community benefit from the success of an
organisation. Any financial surpluses that organisations make are channelled
back into furthering the aims of the organisation and the community it serves
as opposed to personal or shareholder gain. It is perhaps useful to think of
the term ‘social economy’ in terms of local economic and social regeneration as
opposed to trying to define it.
In their Review of the Social Economy published
in 2003 the Scottish Executive noted that, ‘in the same way that there is no
absolute definition of the public and private sectors as there are increasingly
hybrid organisations that do not fit with any traditional view so there is no
generally agreed definition of the social economy.’ In many ways exact
definitions could prove counter productive by trying to ‘impose certainty on
what is a dynamic area of economic activity’.