ESR 11

Project: The role of community (social) enterprises in rural development – a comparative study between Hungary and Germany

ESR 11: Melinda Mihály (Host: SI)

Description: Current EU policy proposes social economy and “inclusive growth” as a solution for the economically most marginalised areas. On one hand, neoliberal (growth-oriented) policies produce peripherisation, on the other hand, there is a positive correlation between the strength of social enterprises and the local mainstream economy. For this reason, it is argued that the real potential of the social economy is its alterity to the mainstream economy (capitalism). I will use the term “community economy” to emphasise that I am looking at social enterprises as experiments to create an alternative to the market economy.
My research question is: To what extent can community enterprises in Hungary and Germany contribute to sustainable local development? To answer this question I will analyse case studies from “rural peripheries” in Germany and Hungary with in-depth, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. I want to understand what the community is and how it functions behind the enterprise.