A New Drama in the Stage of Capitalism: Social Enterprises

With the left of welfare state practices in many countries, the duty of meeting the needs of the society was handed over to the initiative of the free market. The 1980s-90s were the beginning of a period when free market economy practices were intensified and idealized. But, the other side of neoliberalism has made inequalities, economic and social crises constant. Especially in the 1990s, alternative practices were implemented in many European countries in response to the devastating effects of neoliberalism. They were called as "social economy" or a "third sector" outside the public and private sectors. Although they are called as a third sector, most of the social economy organizations do not have exactly independence from the state and the market. One of the most tangible examples of this is social enterprises. The main feature of social enterprises; is making social and environmental issues a priority. In other words, social enterprises assert that they differentiate themselves from other enterprises by emphasizing that profit maximization is not their main goal. On the other hand, the concept causes some uncertainties both in itself and in terms of functioning. The main purpose of the study is to present a critical point of view whether social enterprises are really an alternative to the market. In this context, firstly, the relationship of social enterprises with the public sector has been handled within the framework of Foucault's power analysis. Based on the Kitap Koala†interview in the method section and the findings obtained from other sources were analyzed by descriptive analysis. The distance of social enterprises to the private sector has been evaluated through this analysis. Consequently, it has been concluded that social enterprises have a high share of stretching existing problems rather than being an alternative.