The social economy combines economic activity with social impact and may serve as a catalyst for societal change toward more sustainability. Understanding and shaping the current and future role of the social economy is the goal of the Social Economy Scientific Conference. At the two two-day digital event on 24th and 25th November 2020, a vibrant network of distinguished social economy researchers will discuss the potential of the social economy to rethink and reshape socio-economic spaces.

The sharing economy is researched on different levels of analysis and with variety of methodological approaches. Researchers have diverse exploratory goals and apply various explanatory mechanisms. In a volume in the renowned series "Research on the Sociology of Organisations", the i-share researchers Indre Maurer, Johanna Mair and Achim Oberg publish current work that with a connecting element: the studies contribute to theorizing on the variety and trajectories in the sharing economy based on organization theories.

In their exploratory study, the researchers find that sharing organizations receive attention, resources and legitimation from a „disruptive field“ of organizations including tech-media and venture capitalists – a field that initiates and support technological innovation which potentially disrupt existing fields and industries. So far, the field pays attention to dominant models in the sharing economy such as Airbnb or Uber. The authors published the chapter in the renowned series „Research in the Sociology of Organizations“.

Is the sharing economy considered to be a chance or challenge for society? With which strategies does the public sector approach this phenomenon? Sebastian Vith, Achim Oberg, Markus Höllerer and Renate Meyer address these questions in their article recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics.