ABSTRACT
The market economy reforms in the Deng era are known as modernisations. However, China became thoroughly modernised in the Mao era, when the imperial system of governance was replaced by Leninist management principles and Marxist Soviet-style central economic planning. Even though market mechanism have been introduced in the Deng era, they are only tools to better regulate the domestic planned economy. The majority of social enterprises in China operate in this economic sphere. They must contend with the complexities of the governance structure and stay true to their social mission without crossing the invisible line between social and political activism. In this chapter, the case exemplifying this situation is Qushuo Academy. It was registered in 2012 and has managed to scale up. Its social mission is to improve literacy, not only in the sense of rote learning, but by training in critical thinking, dialogue and artistic expression. It is located in a small town that for years was culturally “hollowed out” as young adults migrated for work and education. The chapter details how Qushuo Academy succeeds by balancing the positions it takes in its interactions with various stakeholders, making changes to the social contract in the process.
