ABSTRACT

This presentation offers a perspective on the organizing processes of social enterprises that work with members of marginalized, vulnerable populations. I present data from a qualitative, theory-generating study of two social enterprises—an alternative justice program for individuals with mental health issues charged with misdemeanors, and a church-based program to support and empower unhoused people. The study focuses on how, in the context of stated purposes and missions, these programs also work to dignify people whose lives are marked by daily indignities. I describe the nature and enactment of dignifying spaces that offer possibilities of marginalized others becoming visible and agentic in their own lives. The emerging theory shows how dignifying spaces are enacted via specific processes that frame others as central rather than peripheral; types of interactions in which dignity is offered, granted, and accepted; underlying mechanisms that support those interactions; and organizing principles by which enterprise leaders navigate complexities and tensions. The theory that emerges from this study has implications for creating places of meaning for members of organizations and institutions, and for organizing processes that dignify others and enable them to dignify themselves.