Dear SSJ subscribers (especially those living in Kanto),

I shall be giving a talk on the emergence of "social entrepreneurship"
in Japan this Friday (the 13th!) from 10am to 11am at Keio University's Hiyoshi campus and thought I'd circulate the blurb in case some of you are interested (pls see below). The event will be held at room C3N14 (5F) of the Kyosei-kan (Collaboration Complex), the fancy building right by the campus gate.

In the talk I'll share some of my tentative findings and wish to receive substantial feedback from the audience on how to further expand and improve this new research undertaking.

I'll also bring a copy of A Sociology of Japanese Youth, the recent book I mentioned in a previous post, in case some of you wish to have a look. (I'll also bring a few discount-price book order forms).

All the best,

Tuukka TOIVONEN

--
DPhil in Social Policy (Oxon.)
Junior Research Fellow
Green Templeton College, University of Oxford Woodstock Road, OX2 6HG Oxford, UK
URL: http://www.tuukkatoivonen.com
Primary e-mail: tuukka.t[at]gmail.com

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"The Emergence of a Field: Social Entrepreneurship
in Japan (with comparative reference to SE in China)"

Tuukka TOIVONEN, DPhil (Oxon.)

ABSTRACT:

In this presentation, I draw on the relevant
international
literature, various media sources and original
interviews to
sketch out the emergence of the field of social
entrepreneurship
(shakai kigyou or shakaiteki kigyou) in Japan.

Although not denying the relevance of prior
developments in
the civil society sector in particular, key actors are
now striving
to make clear distinctions between "social
entrepreneurship"
and other seemingly connected fields. Yet the very
definition
of shakai kigyou remains essentially contested for the
moment
as several alternative conceptualizations are being put
forth. This situation echoes the observation of Alex
Nicholls
(2010) that the field of social entrepreneurship is
still in
a "pre-paradigmatic" state on the international level
also,
allowing us to set developments in Japan into a broader
and more illuminating theoretical context.

Beyond shedding a measure of light on crucial
definitional
aspects, this presentation will also consider the
organizational
architecture of the field, including sources of finance
and
skills training. Is it evident that social
entrepreneurship is quickly
becoming an institutionalized, mainstream part of the
economy, or is the process of institutionalization
still in its
early stages?

In addition (though switching the perspective
somewhat), the
issue of how young people in Japan transition into the
field of
social entrepreneurship will be raised. The problem of
transitions
is a fascinating one: here, motivated youth are
required to engineer
a personalized transition into a largely "unfinished",
only partly
established field of action. This entails a number of
predictable
and unpredictable challenges, but also a few special
opportunities.
Is it possible already to delineate a handful of
"typical" kinds of
transitions from prior positions into full-time social
entrepreneurship?

This presentation adopts an exploratory, participatory
format and
calls upon audience members to actively share their
own knowledge
and views (at least 30 minutes will be reserved for
discussion).
The author is currently looking to deepen his current
research agenda
and is therefore keen to discuss a variety of issues
related to social
entrepreneurship with both practitioners and
researchers.

Tuukka Toivonen is Junior Research Fellow at Green
Templeton
College, University of Oxford (www.tuukkatoivonen.com)
as well as
a Japan Foundation fellow. He investigates young
workers' motivational
processes, social entrepreneurship and related policies
from a comparative
angle. Tuukka is also the co-editor, with Roger Goodman
and Yuki Imoto, of
A Sociology of Japanese Youth (Routledge, 2012), the
author of Japan's
Emerging Youth Policy (Routledge, 2012) and an active
member of his
college's "Future of Work" programme.