Indigenous Social Enterprises and Empowerment

The paper aims to make a substantial and new contribution to the emerging body of international research on Indigenous ‘success’ in the context of Indigenous organisations by focusing on the significance of the social entrepreneurship of Indigenous organisations, and their social enterprise, in community building, recovery and governance. In doing so, it describes the role of seven Indigenous organisations located in an urban locality in Australia in local Indigenous community building, recovery and governance, including the development of local wellbeing, empowerment and social change for the Indigenous peoples in the urban locality in which they are located.

To achieve this, the paper will draw on a three-year in-depth place-based case study of urban Indigenous success in addressing Indigenous disadvantage and promoting Indigenous wellbeing funded by the Australian Research Council. The study draws on sociological methodologies (in-depth case study, discussion circles, in-depth interviews and documentary analysis) and concepts (e.g. successful societies, community building, social entrepreneurship, social capital, power and agency) to achieve this end.