Social Enterprise as a response to rural disadvantage: the case of the Scottish Highlands and Islands

With a focus on ‘small is beautiful’, the paper argues that the development of social entrepreneurship in the Scottish Highland and Islands is a response to rural disadvantage and shows how social enterprises are an important adaptive response by rural communities to address these disadvantages. Consequently, ‘social enterprise’ and ‘rural entrepreneurship’ are considered to be embedded in ‘place’. The paper draws on the author’s primary quantitative and qualitative research as well as the author’s experience as a business adviser for the third sector in the Highlands and Islands. The combination of research and practitioner experience enables an in-depth exploration of the complex phenomena of resilience within the context of small-scale social entrepreneurship, rural disadvantage, place and social enterprise, enabling the author to bring a unique insight into the origins, motivations, challenges and aspirations of social entrepreneurs in rural Scotland. The promotion of community resilience is regarded as being closely interrelated to local social entrepreneurship.