ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the development in the emerging field of social entrepreneurship in Sweden will be presented and elaborated. From a basic view, social entrepreneurship is social engagement combined with some type of entrepreneurial action. In newer social entrepreneurship initiatives and social enterprises, traditional values are mixed with new practices. The investigation and identification of needs are at least a part of the entrepreneurial process. In the international literature, social entrepreneurship is commonly related to a value-creating and/or an innovative role in society. This is the case in Sweden. The resources controlled by the welfare state have, with the transformed system in which private actors are invited as service providers, become opportunities for social entrepreneurs and different types of enterprises. To conclude, studies of social entrepreneurship, societal entrepreneurship and social enterprises in Sweden show many similarities with the recent international discourse.
