FAQs

What is the main focus of the Institute — its core business?

Like most social enterprises, we are an ‘alternative’ business model aimed at producing social, financial and environmental impact. Our ‘core business’ is networking for social entrepreneurs through activities that centre on research, learning and technologies for communities considered individually or together. The foci of our business may be seen in our objectives.

Through our networks, we aim to promote and grow interest in social entrepreneurship and the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ that must accompany a ‘movement’ for social change in Australasia and world-wide in the 21^st Century.

What makes us ‘alternative’?

There are a number of defining features about the way we work and organise ourselves.

1. We are a network rather than an organisation.
2. We organise ourselves and our work on principles of mutuality.
3. We have a strong interest in identifying and solving those critical issues that sustain social enterprises in their start-up and advanced phases of implementation.

So what really makes us different from other social enterprise support organisations?

We work in local contexts in a world where:

• Social enterprises are mission-market driven (and not just by one of these alone) while complementing and collaborating with other initiatives (community focussed nonprofits etc) in the social economy.
• Social enterprises need to work through mutual benefit and obligation principles (the new mutualism).
• Micro and small-to-medium social enterprises in communities are in most need and therefore given priority by us.
• Networks need to be viewed as ends rather than means with nodes of good relationships and trust, and with embedded shared goals and values.
• Enquiry, learning and technologies for communities are integrated within a mission-driven approach to accelerate social change through entrepreneurship.

Why do we need another support organization for social entrepreneurs in Australia?

There is only one other member-based support organisation for social entrepreneurs in Australia. This is the fee-for-service Social Enterprise Partnerships organisation. The other principal organisation (which is non-member based is Social Ventures Australia. These and a number of smaller member and network organisations such as Catalyst (www.catalystinnovations.org.au) along with other nonprofits, social ventures, and social business organisations can be and are powerful agents in shaping social change. We see ourselves working collaboratively with these groups to the benefit of social entrepreneurs. But no group other than AISE works within a framework that includes the combination of focussed activities listed under AISEs’ three strategic areas of work above; or adopts mutuality principles as their mode of operation.

More important and relevant perhaps is the fact that AISE has been established as a unique network of social entrepreneurs committed to and passionate about social change. We are interested in identifying and finding practical solutions to critcal issues that shape the nature and sustainability of social enterprises.

AISE forms part of a broader global ‘social movement’ that aims to address disadvantage, inequity, injustice and poverty. The key to ending this disadvantage may be found in local community contexts and the creation of global networks of connections that extend out to the very centres of the world and back again. Further information about these connections may be read at “Why AISE?” under “What We Do” on our website.

What is this ‘social movement’ referred to above?

The term ‘social movement’ is perhaps a misnomer because it implies that there is one huge single change (the ‘metanarrative’) occurring globally and evenly in social and power relationships among peoples, countries and governments. There may also be the assumption that there is a continuous overarching ‘movement’ of social change which, for example, can be recognized and measured on a continuum.

But we believe that change and social change in particular is more likely to occur in many places and at different times. Social change itself is more discontinuous than continuous and occurs over long periods of time. It more likely to occur in irregular quantum ‘leaps’. The ‘movement’ to which we refer as ‘social’ is comprised on many individuals and groups working in local communities and connected globally in multiple and reciprocal ways with larger groups and centres of power.

What conditions have led to the emergence of this social movement and social enterprise?

In the past two decades, new ‘frames’ or influences have emerged to govern and constrain our ‘life-worlds’. For example, we have observed:

• A breakdown in the social, political and financial sectors from a regulated and ordered world to one that is more fragmented. Many nation states such as the USSR, the East German Republic, have splintered into separate states. The ordered artistic landscapes of the 19^th century have been displaced by highly abstract and particularistic if not broken images of the late 20^th and 21^st centuries. These changes and many others reflect a move from ‘modernism’ and ‘modernity’ to ‘postmodernism’ and ‘postmodernity’.
• Changing demographics within local regions and the emergence of “region states” which include some of the cities such as Vancouver, Ho Chi Minh City, São Pauloand others. [Region-states have all the practical building blocks for economic growth, such as a sizable population and an efficient transportation infrastructure. They are “units” that create a virtuous circle: They are open to outside ideas, welcome people with various backgrounds and skills, and become magnets for investment].
• The emergence of globalisation, internationalisation, denationalisation and digitalisation have also produced a profound and lasting impact on our social, material and political lives.

What do we mean by globalisation, internationalisation, denationalisation and digitalisation?

There are great arguments about and varying meanings given to these terms. We describe them in the following way.

• Globalisation: This idea has been with us for many centuries but in the contemporary world it refers to the processes whereby the world is being made into a single place with the qualities of a system. The interrelationships between the local (single place) and global (a system) are reflected in our description of The Need for AISE. What is important to always remember however is that both local places and global systems are linked and that social entrepreneurs while working in the former are as necessary and as powerful as those social entrepreneurs who work for systemic change.
• Internationalisation: This term refers to the increasing interconnections between and among peoples in all areas of human endeavour but especially across cultures and human relationships. The emergence of multicultural and ‘hybridised’ societies reflects the extent of internationalisation and movement of people, ideas and goods across nations — the diasporas. A postmodern notion of difference reminds us that the change that does emerge in a new ‘order of things’, as well as new forms of social organisation must be valued and respected.
• Denationalisation: This is reflected in the changes that have occurred in the decentring and role of the nation state. For example, the larger entrepot city of Londonnow ‘house’ the greater balance of the nation’s financial capital rather than the identified nation of Englanditself. The financescape (Arjun Appadurai)is now so developed that finance flows in large amounts not between nations but across older established entrepot cities such as Londonand newer entrepot cities such as Chicago. This wealth is increasingly owned by the few in borderless nation states.
• Digitalisation: This term refers to the impact of the ‘digital revolution’ and the so called ‘digital divide’ on our daily lives is readily observable. What is important is how we as social entrepreneurs can provide support for more socially sustainable and economically enterprising communities through this immediacy of information flow; and how it has significant consequences for the social, cultural and political fabric of communities and their organisation into nation state systems.

What have been some of the consequences of these changes?

Many of the above changes have led to:

• A reduction in the role of the nation state and its capacity to provide for the welfare and social sectors.
• A corresponding reliance on the voluntary sector and nonprofit organisations.
• Public sector organisations being asked to do more with less, leaving gaps in service delivery.
• The breakdown of other traditional social support structures.
• An increasing belief that local people hold the solutions to local needs.

So what can we in AISE do for you?

Through our mutual member networks we are here to assist you your financial and social goals and challenges by:

• Identifying the critical issues and influences that make your social enterprise more economic and sustainable.
• Using innovative strategies gained from a range of members.
• Mentoring that is mission rather than commercially driven.
• Setting realistic and attainable goals.
• Other activities reflected in the statement on our objectives.

What are some of the benefits of membership?

This will vary according to the kind of member you wish to become. In general however, benefits include:

• Connections with a community of social entrepreneurs through our network based on principles of mutuality; and through the mechanisms we have established to achieve this (e-Forum, directors, member & research data bases, etc.
• Solving of practical problems through our forums for practical solutions.
• Shaping the emerging field of social entrepreneurship through active participation and your voice.
• Participation in knowledge exchange and brokerage with other social enterprise and nonprofits.
• Receipt of discounts on sales, books, registrations for seminars and forums conducted from time to time.
• Access to a range of programs, products and services.
• Use of the AISE logo for your website and publications.
• Other benefits listed under the various categories of membership.

How can I test myself to see if I might get involved as a social entrepreneur?

Try our self-evaluation on our opening page and if this appeals to you go to Social Entrepreneurs under “What We Do”. If you think you can work on principles of mutuality and fulfil the obligations of being a member and enjoy its benefits

» Register here to become a member