INTERPLAY OF THEORY AND PRACTICE: EXPERIENCES FROM THE HUNGARIAN SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FIELD

The concepts of social enterprise and so- cial entrepreneur have been subject to growing interest in Hungary, but the field still lacks clear understanding and regulation. Still, in recent years, several key actors have appeared and have shaped the emerging organizational field in cer- tain directions. Based on the theory of reflexive isomorphism, the present paper analyzes the approaches of these dominant actors in Hungary, and also examines the interpretations of practitio- ner social entrepreneurs. The research employs document analysis to explore the main actors, approaches and narratives, and semi-structured interviews with 20 social entrepreneurs to account for the experiences from practice. Through these methods, the influence of the dominant actors and discourses on the views and experiences of social entrepreneurs is discussed, which contribu- tes to the understanding of the development of the social enterprise organizational field in Hungary.