Promises of societal entrepreneurship: Sweden and beyond

Purpose – Several types of entrepreneurship with a societal purpose coincide in Sweden today, somestemming from older domestic traditions, others being more recent foreign influences. This paper aimsto interrelate social, civic, community, and other entrepreneurships in search of a more unifyingconcept of societal entrepreneurship for Sweden and beyond.Design/methodology/approach – As part of a larger study, Swedish researchers and practitionerspromoting some kind of entrepreneurship with societal purpose, are interviewed and asked forexamples and literature references. Altogether 176 actors are identified and 59 are interviewed.The main distinguishing factors between different discourses of entrepreneurship are accounted for aswell as results from workshops where actors representing different discourses partook.Findings – Seven societally oriented entrepreneurship discourses are distinguished, with differentforeign or domestic origins. Key characteristics for interrelating different discourses are the type ofactor (individual and/or collective) and purpose (social/ecological and/or economic) emphasized ina discourse. Interactions documented from workshops indicate a potential in unifying differententrepreneurships within a widened understanding of societal entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implications – The field of entrepreneurship emphasizing societal utility isfragmented with many parallel discourses. The conceptual analysis and empirical findings imply thatthere is potential in a more unifying concept. Furthermore, in the limited Swedish setting, collectivedimensions of entrepreneurship stand out. This nevertheless implies that collective engagements intoentrepreneurship of any kind are worthy of more research and recognition.Practical implications – Implications are primarily limited to societal entrepreneurship withinuncontested welfare states, such as Sweden, where most established societal needs are taken careof through taxes utilized by a public sector. Societal entrepreneurship in such a setting becomesa mechanism for renewal and experimentation.Originality/value – The paper is original in its approach to identifying and interrelating currentdiscourses in Sweden