The place of technology in social entrepreneurship

Abstract

This thesis explores the place of technology in social entrepreneurship. Unlike other related fields such as entrepreneurship and innovation, research into the space technology has in social entrepreneurship has largely been neglected. To this effect, a systematic review of existing literature was carried out along with an analysis of fifty rigorously selected real-world social entrepreneur cases. The findings, among other things, revealed (i) the positive outlook on technology within social entrepreneurship literature (ii) (ii) The degree to which technology is applied to wicked problems (mapped using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals) (iii) the role social entrepreneurship plays in introducing technology – particularly high technology – to the Global South.