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Social Enterprise As a Rights-Based Approach to Development: a Comparative Study of Two Organizations

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Social Enterprise As a Rights-Based Approach to Development: a Comparative Study of Two Organizations Social Enterprise as a Rights-Based Approach to Development: A Comparative Study of Two Organizations By Derek Christopher Brine B. Eng, Mechanical Engineering McGill University, 2006 Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Master in City Planning and Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2010 © 2010 Derek Christopher Brine. All rights reserved The author hereby grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author _____________________________________________________________________ Department of Urban Studies and Planning Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering May 14 th , 2010 Certified by____________________________________________________________________________ Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal Department of Urban Studies and Planning Thesis Supervisor Certified by____________________________________________________________________________ Susan Murcott Senior Lecturer of Civil and Environmental Engineering Thesis Supervisor Accepted by____________________________________________________________________________ Daniele Veneziano Chairman, Departmental Committee for Graduate Students Accepted by____________________________________________________________________________ Professor Joseph Ferreira Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning Social Enterprise as a Rights-Based Approach to Development: A Comparative Study of Two Organizations By Derek Christopher Brine Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on May 14th , 2010 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Master in City Planning and Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering ABSTRACT Social enterprise has emerged as a potential new way to combat poverty and conduct development interventions. Social enterprise uses business methods to achieve financial sustainability for organizations seeking to create social impact. At the same time these organizations often operate in areas which are traditionally administered by governments. As such, there is potential to implement rights-based approaches which integrate human rights principles into organizational design, procedure and processes and put pressure on traditional responsibility bearers. Pure Home Water and Community Water Solutions are two social enterprises operating to ensure access to high-quality water in Northern Ghana that have not explicitly adopted rights-based approaches. This study explores key stakeholder conceptions about social enterprise and human rights through interviews with social entrepreneurs, government officials, and staff and customers of two social enterprises. In agreement with the literature on social entrepreneurs, the analysis reveals that social entrepreneurs attempting to achieve equal access to high quality water in Northern Ghana are resourceful individuals that pay close attention to context in designing their community engagement methods. In addition, in their thinking they appeal to human rights, recognizing the importance of the interconnectedness of rights and of the government as ultimate responsibility holder. However, there is a gap between thinking and action, as these organizations are disconnected from government involvement and focus on technical fixes in light of the social-structural issues that affect access to water in Northern Ghana. However, human rights can provide the framework for action which social enterprise needs. Rights can serve as a benchmark; an agreed upon ethical framework that can help to overcome the ambiguity that many of the research participants expressed about the ‘social’ nature of social enterprise. In addition, given the resourcefulness, dedication and motivation of the research participants, social enterprises may be well- positioned to operationalize rights-based approaches and to establish a much-needed dialogue between marginalized communities and formal human rights regimes. At the same time, incorporating rights into social enterprise presents some sticky ethical problems to social entrepreneurs, including adopting an approach that may ultimately result in their own obsolescence. Thesis Supervisor: Balakrishnan Rajagopal Title: Professor of Urban Studies and Planning Thesis Supervisor: Susan Murcott Title: Senior Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering Acknowledgements This research could not have been possible without the help of many individuals. First and foremost I would like to thank my research participants; the many staff and customers of Pure Home Water and Community Water Solutions that granted me access to their thoughts, reflections and daily lives. Without their cooperation none of this could have been possible. Specifically, I would like to thank my translator, Napps, for helping me to gain some of this critical information. During January of 2009 Napps drove me all over Northern Ghana to interview Pure Home Water customers. Without him I would not have had this critical component of my research. I would like to thank my thesis supervisors, Balakrishnan Rajagopal and Susan Murcott. Not only have they provided useful feedback, they have also been very supportive of my efforts to conduct a research study of this type. Further I thank the MIT Public Service Center and Sally Susnowitz and Alison Hynd for helping fund my travel and work with Pure Home Water in the summer of 2008. To all those who were with me during my time in Ghana – Shanti, Jenny, Jake, Ming, Clair, Sara, Dave, James and Nurideen – I would like to say thank you for making it a great experience. I would like to also thank Hok-Lin Leung, Mohammad Qadeer, Bish Sanyal and Amy Smith, for without them I would not be at MIT in the first place. Their support has been invaluable throughout my time here at MIT. Also to my parents for providing me with the wonderful opportunities I have had in my life. Without their love and support I would not be the confident, successful person I am today. Finally, I would like to thank my partner, Amber, who now probably knows more about this study than do I, having read through it so many times. Thank you for your keen editing eye and unconditional love and support during this process. 5 Table of Contents List of Acronyms, Tables and Figures ............................................................................. 8 Chapter 1: Defining the Problem ..................................................................................... 9 Background ............................................................................................................... 10 Purpose ..................................................................................................................... 12 Rationale ................................................................................................................... 13 Outline ...................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2: Methodology ................................................................................................ 16 Finding a Research Topic .......................................................................................... 16 The Study .................................................................................................................. 18 Northern Ghana and the Water Problem ................................................................. 18 The Organizations ................................................................................................. 19 Research Method ................................................................................................... 24 Participant Observation .......................................................................................... 25 The Interviews ....................................................................................................... 27 The Problem of Anonymity ................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3: Literature Review ......................................................................................... 30 History of Development ............................................................................................ 30 History of the Term ............................................................................................... 30 Non-Governmental Organizations, Social Movements and More ........................... 35 ‘Social’ Entrepreneurship and ‘Social’ Enterprise ...................................................... 39 Entrepreneurship.................................................................................................... 40 Social Entrepreneurship ......................................................................................... 43 Social Enterprise .................................................................................................... 47 Social Entrepreneur Typology ................................................................................... 48 Social Bricoleur ..................................................................................................... 49 Social
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