Ethical Judgments about Social Entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa: The Influence of Spatio-Cultural Meanings

De Avillez, M.; Greenman, Andrew; Marlow, S.

Abstract

Within this paper, we adopt a qualitative process approach to explore how ethical judgments are influenced by spatio-cultural meanings to advance debate about how social entrepreneurship is practiced in a sub-Saharan African country, Mozambique. We analyse how ethical judgments about social entrepreneurship emerge using data gathered during fieldwork undertaken over a four year period in Maputo. Our findings illustrate three modes used to produce ethical judgments: embracing, rejecting and integrating. These describe how ethical judgments emerged as participants evaluated practices of SE using meanings drawn from a global circuit and those that were locally embedded. This informs a model showing how spatio-cultural meanings influence the process of making ethical judgments about social entrepreneurship. This analysis informs a critical evaluation regarding how ethical judgments about social entrepreneurship emerge within negotiations and interactions as multiple spatio-cultural meanings are drawn upon. We conclude by considering the practical implications of our study.

Citation

De Avillez, M., Greenman, A., & Marlow, S. (2020). Ethical Judgments about Social Entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa: The Influence of Spatio-Cultural Meanings. Journal of Business Ethics, 161(4), 877–892. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04344-z

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 29, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 8, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Deposit Date: Nov 4, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 11, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
• Print ISSN: 0167-4544
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 161
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 877–892
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04344-z
• Keywords: Social entrepreneurship; Sub-Saharan Africa; Ethical judgments; Process theory; Spatio-cultural meanings
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3051804
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10551-019-04344-z