| Abstract | The social action landscape is changing. While traditional forms of social action, charities and institutional international help, are still active and diversify more and more, radically new forms of social investment are emerging.
The rationale for the apparition of these new models is the gradual realization of a considerable business potential. Indeed, social enterprises’ customers, suppliers and actors represent half of the worldwide population, the so-called bottom of the pyramid. This market attracted to the social investment field venture capitalists for large financial institutions, for the main benefit of the social action evolution. From then on, this is the Wall Street financial analyst who is walking in the footsteps of Mother Teresa.
With access to international capital, social enterprises became a major agent of change in the developing countries. When definitions are blurred and concepts still evolving, the more efficient way to understand a situation is to go down to the field. The analysis of a social venture based in rural Thailand, Grassroots Innovation Network, gathers, through the detailed study of an example, the findings and methodology in place in the new models of social action.
Through their actions and breakthrough innovations, social enterprises seem to be the way to go to transform the graphical representation of the world social structure, from a pyramid to a worldwide web. Therefore, if we apply the Hegelian dialectic perspective to the contemporary world, we are currently transiting from the second to the third step of human social development. It is now up to the developed countries and their governments to understand the full potential and consequences of such an evolution. |