Social entrepreneurship as a tool for promoting critical, paradoxical learning in the field of business organization and management: An experiment from the University of Zaragoza

Abstract

There is a growing interest in examining subversive interventions by scholars that may involve the production of new subjectivities, the constitution of new organizational models, and the linking of these models with current social movements. This paper presents the case of the Social Economy Lab (LAB_ES), created in the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zaragoza in 2017. In particular, we discuss the main experiences and interventions made from the LAB_ES around three areas of work: (1) the space of collective work; (2) the space of participation for the university community; and (3) the space of collective research. The study reflects the possibilities of including the study of alternative organizations in the education agenda. These organizations are guided by principles that include democracy, equality, emancipation and environmental sustainability. Likewise, the results and interventions of the LAB_ES are discussed not only to foster critical thinking among the students, but also to provide this group with skills for starting up alternative projects of organization and management outside the university. Finally, some key conclusions are drawn about the role of the LAB_ES as a space for collective research and collective production of critical knowledge about business organization and management, through the involvement of different actors.