Short description
What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. Bornstein profiles nine of these driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up--and remake the world for the better.
Long description
David Bornsteins How to Change the World is the first book to study a remarkable and growing group of individuals around the world--what Bornstein calls social entrepreneurs. These men and women are bringing innovative, and successful, grass-roots approaches to a wide variety of social and economic problems, from rural poverty in India to discrimination against gypsies in Central Europe; from industrial pollution in the United States to child prostitution in Thailand. Like business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs are creative, driven, and adventurous. The embrace change, exploit new opportunities, and think big. In How to Change the World, Bornstein provides vivid profiles of many such individuals, looking at the personalities, strategies, and techniques they have in common. The book is an In Search of Excellence for social initiatives, intertwining personal stories, anecdotes, and analysis. Readers will see how social entrepreneurs bring about structural changes in their societies--in other words, how one human being can make a difference. The case studies in the book include Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for the international campaign against landmines she ran by e-mail from her Vermont home; Roberto Baggio, a 31-year old Brazilian who has established eighty computer schools in the slums of Brazil; and Diana Propper, who has used investment banking techniques to make American corporations responsive to environmental dangers. The paperback edition will offer a new foreword by the author that shows how the concept of social entrepreneurship has expanded and unfolded over the last few years, including the Gates-Buffetts charitable partnership, the rise of Google, and the increased mainstream coverage of the subject. The book will also update the stories of individual social entrepreneurs that appeared in the cloth edition.
Review
Wonderfully hopeful and enlightening.... The stories of these social entrepreneurs will inspire and encourage many people who seek to build a better world. --Nelson Mandela
The book is must reading for anyone who cares about building a more equitable, and therefore more stable, world. --William J. Holstein, New York Times
I've told everyone within earshot about it. Besides, I'm confident that those who've read the earlier volume will appreciate the update...Buy extra copies of the book as gifts-someone you know may be looking for a future with meaning. --Portland Alliance
David Bornstein's How to Change the World provides a wonderful introduction to social entrepreneurship. It is engaging, inspiring, and informative, weaving Bornstein's thoughtful commentary with a set of rich, diverse, and instructive examples. It is the first book I recommend to interested students. -- Professor J. Gregory Dees, Faculty Director, Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business
A fascinating book.... Well-documented cases of grassroots entrepreneurial activities to tackle such diverse social problems as child abuse, disability, illiteracy, and environmental degradation give life to it. --Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Business Week
This pioneering book details the development of social entrepreneurship globally with useful case studies and thoughtful analysis throughout. It represents one of the core teaching materials we use at Oxford. --Dr Alex Nicholls, Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship, Said Business School, Oxford University
One of the most powerful transformative forces in this century is social entrepreneurship andthis book insightfully probes these entrepreneurial change agents driving this process. Enriching reading for students and practitioners seeking to build a better world. --James E. Austin, Snider Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, and Co-Founder of the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative