Social enterprise and their eco-system: A European mapping report of Czech Republic

This report is part of the study “Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe” and it provides an overview of the social enterprise landscape in Czech Republic based on available information as of December 2018.

The historical roots of social enterprises in the Czech Republic extend back to the emergence of worker cooperatives, mutuals, and associations in the mid-19th century. These organisations focused e.g. on financial, consumer and production mutual aid and self-help. At their peak before World War II, more than 16,500 active cooperatives operated in Czechoslovakia. During the communist regime (1948-1989), some associations and cooperatives survived but lost their autonomy and democratic bottom-up structure. The regime left an impact on Czech cooperatives and non-profit organisations even after its demise. Bottom-up left-wing discourses became discredited, and uncritical pursuit of private property, free market, and profit became a key feature of the post-communist political agenda. However, associations, cooperatives and religious organisations did revive after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The latter have expanded their activities to include humanitarian and social work, and their potential within the social enterprise sphere has grown in the wake of a recent government move to return land and buildings (seized by the communist regime) to Czech churches…