Caring Capitalism: The Meaning and Measure of Social Value

Description

Companies are increasingly championed for their capacity to solve social problems. Yet what happens when such goods as water, education, and health are sold by companies - rather than donated by nonprofits - to the disadvantaged and when the pursuit of mission becomes entangled with the pursuit of profit? In Caring Capitalism, Emily Barman answers these important questions, showing how the meaning of social value in an era of caring capitalism gets mediated by the work of 'value entrepreneurs' and the tools they create to gauge companies' social impact. By shedding light on these pivotal actors and the cultural and material contexts in which they operate, Caring Capitalism accounts for the unexpected consequences of this new vision of the market for the pursuit of social value. Proponents and critics of caring capitalism alike will find the book essential reading.

Emily Barman is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Boston University. She received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago. Her first book, Contesting Communities: The Transformation of Workplace Charity (2006) was awarded the 2007 Association of Fundraising Professionals' Research Prize. Her articles have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, the Journal of Management Studies, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and Social Science History.

'From social enterprises to socially responsible investors, Caring Capitalism illuminates the divergent ways both nonprofits and for-profits are using market-based approaches to determine what is purportedly of social value. Rather than convergence on a new standard, Emily Barman finds that social value is polysemic, with elastic meanings that frequently produce surprising goals and ambitions. Barman provides an invaluable service in showing how a new cast of organizations are remaking the meaning of the social good.' Walter W. Powell, Stanford University, California 'In this illuminating book, Emily Barman argues that the proliferation of 'caring capitalism' - efforts by corporations to make the world a better place as well as to make a profit - has redefined the meaning of social value. Barman shows how value entrepreneurs, by creating new ways to measure and implement social value, play a key role in determining how organizations balance the crosscutting demands of the profit industry and the desire to do social good, pushing us to think in a more nuanced way about the confluence of market and mission.' Michael Sauder, University of Iowa '... for those readers willing to seriously learn about the convergence of market and mission as well as the role of human agency, this book will be valuable. A volume that future researchers on the social responsibility of corporations will want to consult, discuss, and critique.' J. Li, Choice '... Caring Capitalism is a great addition to the literature on valuation in economic sociology and an informative introduction to the variety of projects seeking to fuse profit and philanthropy. The chapters on non-profit organizations and responsible investment are especially well suited for students and scholars hoping to make sense of these fields, and each could work well as a short stand-alone reading for graduate or undergraduate courses.' Tim Bartley, American Journal of Sociology 'The book is very challenging and inspiring. It analyses the meaning and metrics of social value present in the 'measuring devices' that prevail in four main fields or societal arenas, characterized by two dimensions: (a) sectorial location: nonprofit versus market and (b) normative orientation: market versus nonmarket.' Andrea Bassi, Voluntas