Study Programmes 2015-2016
ECON0941-1  
Seminar on the Social Economy
Duration :
30h Th
Number of credits :
Master in population and development studies (120 ECTS)6
Master in labour sciences (120 ECTS)6
Master in labour sciences (60 ECTS)6
Master in communication (120 ECTS)4
Lecturer :
Jacques Defourny
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
This course analyses the economic realities which are part of what is more and more frequently called the "third sector", i.e. a sector which is distinct from the traditional private sector and from the public sector. The third sector mainly brings together enterprises belonging to the co-operative movement, mutual organisations and above all activities with an economic relevance carried out by associations (formal non-profit organisations, on the one hand, and informal associations, on the other hand). These realities are often poorly understood from an economic point of view although they represent a significant part of employment in industrialised countries. In a different way but even more importantly, they are also crucial and bear great hopes in developing economies where they are generally rooted in local communities and prove to be crucial in LDCs where the public sector has decreased a lot and the formal private sector is concentrated in profitable industries and areas.
In order to apprehend these realities, which are often poorly known and whose importance is usually strongly undervalued, different types of approaches are used complementarily: approaches based on the concept of the social economy, and those based on the notion of "non-profit organizations" (NPOs). Various approaches were forged during last decades to seize and analyze specificities of such organizations. Among these analytical frameworks, the concept of social economy took a particular importance to stress that the major stake is often to make live a true company by putting it at the service of a social mission.
Learning outcomes of the course :
  • To identify the contributions and limitations of the different conceptual grids, developed to understand the "third sector" of our economies,
  • To understand the complementarity of these approaches and to learn how to combine them for a better understanding of the realities observed,
  • To promote a dialogue between European and American appoaches to social entreprise and social entrepreneurship.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
General political economy course and if possible a microeconomic analysis course.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
The first part of the course presents the different conceptual and analytical approaches. The second part is devoted to the presentation of papers written by groups of students on specific themes or fields of activity (one paper per hour) Each presentation is followed by the paper's discussion by another group of students introducing a general debate.
Recommended or required readings :
A set of books will be "banked" and made available to the students at he Documentation Center of CIRIEC (building B33, 2nd floor).The course will make extensive use of the virtual interfaces LOl@ and ecampus. On these interfaces LOl@ and ecampus, students can find:
  • Powerpoint presentations of the various sessions,
  • a reading portfolio with the articles related to each meeting,
  • the joint papers written by students to be presented and discussed.
Assessment methods and criteria :
The evaluation will combine four elements:
  • the quality of written work and oral presentation,
  • the quality of the discussion of another group's work,
  • participation in debates,
  • an oral examination for the critical use of the different grids.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Contacts :
Teacher: Prof. J. DEFOURNY (Sart-Tilman, building B33, second floor, office 2.10). Email: J.Defourny@ulg.ac.be
Teaching assistant: Aurélie Soetens Email: aurelie.soetens@ulg.ac.be Tel. : 04 366 30 43
Items online :
Documents available on-line
At the beginning of the course, a document will be made available online (via LOl@); it will include the following information:
  • A presentation of the course and its objectives.
  • The instructions for the written work (group work) and the discussion.
  • The various subjects proposed for the written work and a bibliography related to each subject.
  • The assessment methods and criteria.
A reading portfolio including all the articles listed in the bibliography (and whose use is compulsory) will be made available on LOl@ and ecampus. After each theoretical session, the Powerpoint presentations of the latter will be made available online. The joint papers written by students and their Powerpoint presentations will also be made available online. All these documents are to be used as aid for the oral examination.