ABSTRACT
Quite often, new forms of social and economic action have to be conceptualised and the groups concerned seek their own vocabulary. This is also the case with regard to the development of organisational forms of action which have been labelled as ‘social purpose businesses’, ‘civic enterprises’, ‘community businesses’, ‘community wealth enterprises’1 and ‘social enterprises’. The challenge for analytical debates is that the term ‘social enterprise’ seems to blur exactly those frontiers which have been deliberately constructed – between action for the public good and private action, between social action as non-profit and enterprises as private market organisations.
