Top-down empowerment? The construction of the social economy in the field of social service provision

Bibliographic Data

ID7174182
AuthorsSang Hun Lim (0000-0002-8230-247X, Kyung Hee University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume46
Issue1
Pages41-63
Publication date2025-10-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-0183 • E-ISSN: 1461-703X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/02610183251379368
OpenAlexW4415590112
LanguageEN
References cited28

This study examines the development of the social economy in South Korea, focusing on the experiences of marginalised informal social service providers that have newly incorporated as social economy organisations (SEOs) through top-down government policies. Drawing on in-depth interviews with organisers of new SEOs as well as other related actors, the study explores their motivations, challenges, and newly constructed values. While extant studies on the social economy in Korea characterise it as government-led or highlight how already politicised social economy actors resist against the state and market, this study shows how even top-down policies can catalyse the self-awareness of marginalised actors by bringing into focus the contradictions between government expectations and their lived experiences. This leads them to reinterpret their roles in ways that transcend government intentions

Community Development and Social Impact · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Sciences and Governance

Tools

Open DOI