Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness.

Exploring the role

of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

Introduction
Ideas around the notion of civil society have been around for centuries (Pollock,
2001) and whilst the terminology associated with civil society has had increasing
traction with proponents of the so-called third way, the ideas associated with this
concept ha ve not had the same impact. According to Pollock, civil society
adherents privilege civil society over other theories of social and economic
organisation whilst, according to Kelsey (2002), under the third way, “centre-left
governments… claim that they are abandoning neoliberal economic policies while
simultaneously stabilising and embedding the conditions for the continuation of the
same policies”, that is to say, the ideology of ‘the market’ continues to hold sway.

According to Edwards and Foley (1998), there is an increased interest in the concept
of civil society as a means of drawing attention to the neglect of the social in favour
of the economic and the alleged ad vantages of ‘the market’. Edwards and Foley
(1998) conclude that commitment to the ongoing development of civil society offers
an opportunity to mobilise citizens, nurture democracy and reshape political
institutions. According to the United Nations (cited in Wikipedia, 2007), the
promotion of civil society offers a further opportunity to resist the impact of the
globalised market. Central to the notion of civil society is an analysis of power
(London School of Economics cited in Wikipedia, 2007) and thus the empowerment
of individuals and communities. In this essay I will explore two approaches both of
which, I believe, can contribute to the de velopment of civil society through
empowering indi viduals and communities to take hold of their rights and
responsibilities. Social enterprise and health promotion are approaches that can
support the move from the current political limbo of the third way through to an
empowered civil society, I will consider these ideas, the forces that ha ve shaped
them o ver the last two decades and the hope they may offer for the future.
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

Empowerment
Empowerment is central to health promotion (Clover et al., 2005; Downie, Tannahill
& Tannahill, 1991; Durie, 1999; Labonte, 2001; Labonte & Reid, 1997; La verack, 2004;
Nutbeam & Harris, 2004; Raeburn & Rootman, 1998; Rissel, 1994; Robertson & Minkler,
1994; World Health Organization, 1986) and social enterprise (Cabinet Office, 2006;
Alter, no date; Amin, Hudson & Cameron, 2002; Gray, 2003; Pattinieme & Immonen,
2002). To enable individuals and communities to gain power and participate fully
in society requires action which includes advocating for social, political, economic
and en vironmental changes, providing a secure foundation for individuals and
groups to take control, and mediating between the different sectors that might
ha ve an impact on wellbeing (e.g., gov ernment, commercial, voluntary and
community) (World Health Organization, 2005). These actions, the authors of the
Ot tawa Charter for Health Promotion (World Health Organization, 1986) suggest,
will ensure “legislation, fiscal measures, taxation and organisational measures to
support wellbeing… living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating,
satisfying and enjoyable… flexible systems for strengthening public participation…
[and] personal and social de velopment” (ibid).

A working definition of empowerment is provided by Minkler (cited in Nutbeam &

Harris, 2004): a social action process in
which organisations, communities and
individuals gain control of their lives
within a complex social and political
system, thereby improving equity and
quality of life.

Torre (cited in Rissel, 1994) proposed three

essential components of community
empowerment: (1) intrapersonal factors,
Figure 1: (2) mediating structures, and (3) social
The Empo werment Holosphere (Labonte 1996)
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

and political acti vities. Labonte (2001) presents a more comprehensive model of
empowerment, identifying five strategy areas (see Figure 1), each of which
represent a different level of social organization and relationships – interpersonal,
intra-group, inter-group and inter-organisational. La verack (2004) presents similar
elements within a continuum (see Figure 2). Both approaches are useful tools in

* * * * *

Personal Action Small Mutual Community Partnerships Social and

Groups Organizations Political Action

Figure 2: Community Empo werment as a Continuum (Laverack, 2004)

understanding the various steps indi viduals and communities may take in their
journey to empowerment. Howe ver, La verack’s continuum presents a more useful
approach in that it clearly demonstrates the incremental process of empowerment.

Health promotion and social enterprise both contain a focus on the process of
empowering indi viduals and communities to take greater control of the factors that
affect their well-being and participation in society through a process of personal,
group, community and societal de velopment. The ideas behind both concepts
owe their beginnings to the philanthropists and social entrepreneurs of the
nineteenth century (Rosen, 1993; Humphries, 2007). Howe ver, their re-emergence in
the late twentieth century represents a significant shift away from the top-down
approach of previous years. Both disciplines ha ve re-emerged in the era of neo-
liberalism, within an era of a market and cost-driven public sector (Kelsey, 1995;
Evans, Grimes, Wilkinson, & Teece, 1996) in which the supposed efficiency of the
market, as the dominant economic system, has set new limits on what Go vernment
can deliver (The Treasury, 1984). These new limits and the associated reforms of the
public sector combined with the deregulation of the economic sphere ha ve had
tremendous impact on the social fabric of New Zealand. According to Easton
(2002), Kelsey (1995) and indeed the current Prime Minister (cited in Humphries, 2007)
these reforms ha ve failed to deliver the promised utopia and ha ve, in fact, led to
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

increased unemployment, cuts in pay and conditions and worsening health

outcomes.

Health Promotion
The introduction of the neoliberal reforms in the 1980’s and 1990’s led to significant
decline in the wellbeing of the New Zealand population, increases in po verty and
other indicators of poor health (Easton, 2002). It is in this setting that the discipline of
health promotion emerged from the primary health, public health and health
education traditions with the penning of the World Health Organization’s Ot tawa
Charter for Health Promotion in 1986. This charter contains a framework for action
to improve health, prevent disease and promote wellbeing, that is to say, health
promotion.

Health promotion is about process and change, it is an approach to enabling

individuals and communities to improve their wellbeing or sense of wellbeing
through a process of personal and community empowerment and systemic change
(Downie et al., 1991; Labonte & Reid, 1997; Laverack, 2004; Raeburn & Rootman,
1998). The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (World Health Organization, 1986)
defines Health Promotion as a “process of enabling people to increase control over,
and to improve their health” through a process of:

• Building healthy public policy;

• Creating en vironments that support and protect health;

• Strengthening community empowerment, development and organisation;

• Supporting personal and social development through information and

enhanced life skills;

• Reorienting health services to meet the needs of communities and individuals.

 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

These five areas for action provide an effective framework for health promotion
howe ver the Charter fails to recognise the social contracts of indigenous peoples
(Lane & Gardiner, 2003), and as such must be viewed in the light of Te Tiriti o
Waitangi. That is to say, we must consider the participation of Mäori, the
de velopment of partnerships with Mäori and the improvement of Mäori health
status (Health Promotion Forum, 2002, Ministry of Health, 2002).

Social Enterprise
Defining social enterprise is much more problematic than defining health promotion,
the term, according to Jonathan Bland (2006), Chief Executive of the British Social
Enterprise Coalition the phrase “Social Enterprise” was coined in 1998. He asserts
that it describes an organisation that uses commercial practices to make a profit
and that whether or not that enterprise is a social enterprise depends entirely on
what is done with that profit. Howe ver, the organisation that Bland heads
acknowledges that social enterprises ha ve been around since at least the mid
1800’s and that the recent growth in numbers and interest is as a result of increased
po verty and disad vantage (Social Enterprise Coalition, 2006).

The Social Enterprise Coalition (2006) describes a Social Enterprise by its nature:

What is does is social, the basis on which that social mission is embedded into the business in its structure and
governance, and the way it uses the profits it gains through its trading activities… [and] a notion of the ‘double’
or ‘triple’ bottom line… the aims of the organisation to meet its financial, social and often also environmental
aims.

Kerlin (2006) considers the expansion of social enterprise in Europe and the United
States over the last two decades; she identifies quite different understandings of the
term on the two continents. In Europe, Kerlin found two streams of thought around
the notion of social enterprise. Those who agree with the UK Go vernment’s
definition of social enterprise as “businesses with primarily social objectives whose
surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the
community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders
and owners” (Cabinet Office, 2007) and those for whom Social Enterprise relates to
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

the “occupational integration of people excluded from the labour market”

(Defourny & Nyssens cited in Kerlin, 2006). Whilst in the United States, social
enterprise is often presented as a continuum which ranges from “profit-oriented
businesses engaged in socially beneficial acti vities (corporate philanthropies or
corporate social responsibility) to dual-purpose businesses that mediate profit goals
with social objectives (hybrids) to nonprofit organizations engaged in mission-
supporting commercial acti vity (social purpose organizations)” (Kerlin, 2006).

Understanding social enterprise in New Zealand requires the development of

definitions appropriate for the local context. Discussions with colleagues ha ve
shown wide-ranging scope for what exactly social enterprise might mean in a New
Zealand context. Humphries for example has suggested that social enterprises are
“endea vours that ha ve an entrepreneurial orientation and are conducted in the
public interest” (ClassForum – Social Enterprise, 2007) whilst others ha ve seen the
term as a fashionable add-on for charities and other nonprofits raising funds through
the sale of merchandise (ibid.) and others as a response to the increasing
a vailability of Government contracts following the reforms of the 1980’s and 1990’s
(ibid.). Cooper (ibid.) suggests that for social enterprise to take an effective role in
New Zealand requires that the ideas behind it be “deconstructed and
reconstructed”, that “the people need to stand up and demand change” (ibid.)
rather than letting the state and its agencies define social enterprise as can be seen
in the UK (Cabinet Office, 2006).

A first step in defining social enterprise in the New Zealand context is developing an
understanding of the space in which the concept has evol ved. In 1984, the New
Zealand public elected the fourth Labour Government and thus began a series of
social and economic reforms which ha ve been described as the most rapid in the
world (Evans, Grimes, Wilkinson, & Teece, 1996). The initial reforms were followed by
privatisation of state assets in 1987 and labour market deregulation in 1991. The
Treasury as the leading economic think-tank for this period saw the reforms as a
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

means of increasing public choice, market competition and increased efficiency

across the public and private sectors (ibid.). Changes to the social fabric of New
Zealand were extensive with the de velopment of policies based around the idea
of paid work as the main means of ensuring the welfare of individuals (Boston,
Dalziel & St John, 1999) and a shift towards organising society around economic
rather than social interests (Kelsey, 1995).

According to Douglas (1993), one of the core principles behind the reforms was the
notion that “consensus amongst interest groups in quality decisions rarely if ever
arises before they are… implemented… it develops after they are taken, as the
decisions deliver satisfactory results” or to put it simply we know best and others will
agree as we are proved right. According to Easton (2002) and Kelsey (2005), history
has shown otherwise with increased unemployment, reductions in pay and working
conditions, and worsening health outcomes resulting from these changes. Douglas’
autocratic approach to reform and the removal of social objectives from the core
of public policy setting effectively alienated the third sector and positioned the
once influential non-government sector as a service delivery arm for the state
(Larner & Craig, 2002).

It is my view that the neo-liberal reforms of the 1980’s and 1990’s are, in large part,
responsible for the emergence of a social enterprise sector within New Zealand.
Whilst neo-liberal Governments ha ve now been replaced by a Go vernment which
aligns itself with Gidden’s Third Way, little if any movement has taken place in terms
of the third sector being anything more than ‘little arms of the state’ (Larner & Craig,
2002). The rhetoric may ha ve become one of partnership but the state still refuses to
work collaborati vely with the community sector (Community Sector Taskforce, 2007).

Given that Crown policy would appear to ha ve led to the de velopment of social
enterprise in New Zealand, there would seem to be two choices facing the sector in
2007. Whether (a) to continue in this vein and allow Go vernment policy and
acti vity to define and shape social enterprise as has happened overseas, or (b) to
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

work together to de velop a sector which is “subject neither to the commands of the
government nor to the commands of the profit motive” (Wilby & Brierley, 2002).
What then is and should be social enterprise in a New Zealand context?

Social enterprise in New Zealand needs to be independent of both government

and commercial entities whilst maintaining strong relationships with both. To be
effective in contributing to the development of civil society it must impact in the
economic and the social spheres to contribute to the well-being of all (Royal
Commission on Social Policy, 1988). It must provide services and goods to
communities in an ethical and effective manner and create realistic employment
opportunities at every level. Social enterprise needs to build on its history, to take
the lessons learnt from New Zealand’s strong and active third sector to create a
new hope. It must bring the social sphere back to the centre of New Zealand life,
empowering individuals and communities to ad vocate for, and meet, their needs.

Health Promotion and Social Enterprise – working together for our future
It is my belief that together health promotion and social enterprise offer great hope
for the future wellbeing of our society. The two disciplines both ha ve empowerment
at their heart, not to mention numerous other facets. They are approaches that
can more us towards a more participatory and egalitarian society and both need
to break from the paternalistic relationship they ha ve with the state. La verack’s
empowerment continuum provides a framework for the development of civil
society, creation of social enterprises and the promotion of health. Through bringing
together the agencies with an interest in these ideas, control can return to the
people, humanity can flourish and the social sphere may begin to displace the
current economic model at the centre of our society. Social enterprise offers an
opportunity for wellbeing to be controlled by the community and to allow the
agenda to be set by communities.
 Social enterprise… a new solution to wellness. Exploring the role
of social enterprises in the promotion and protection of mental
health in New Zealand.

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