Of Future Founders and Heroic Tales - Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development

As a contribution to the discussion of the still young history of social entrepreneurship (SE) in Germany, we want to discuss the relationship between SE and sustainable development by means of four theses. The theses examine an idea, which has held a prominent place in the self-conception of modern economies: Private Vices and Public Benefits. According to Bernhard Mandeville in the “Fable of the Bees”, private vice produces societal advantage. A common laissez-faire interpretation of this idea is that the vice of avarice, part of human nature, leads to economic growth and growing societal wealth. Thus, individual avarice is legitimised in society as a whole. Its social and ecological consequences, however, increasingly make private avarice a societal burden. Instead of economic growth, sustainable development is considered as a model of societal advantage. Against this backdrop, it is not difficult to see why social entrepreneurs have very quickly come to be seen as new rays of hope: they use entrepreneurial means for social and maybe also sustainable ends. Thus, private virtues and (new) public benefits?