Entrepreneurs face constraints that more mature organizations may not. These constraints cause unique pressures within entrepreneurship. Although ethics and entrepreneurship have individually received much attention in the academic literature, not enough research has investigated ethics within entrepreneurship. This study addresses the need of ethics research within entrepreneurship. Utilizing the theory of planned behavior, this research investigates the ethical decision making process of entrepreneurs. Not all ethical situations are created equally, and not all entrepreneurs are created equally. The ethical environment of any situation can be financially concerned or socially concerned. Likewise, entrepreneurs can be motivated by a private financial gain or a social impact. A multi-scenario approach known as policy-capturing is used to examine the relative importance entrepreneurs place on attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and self-identity when faced with a financial and a social ethical decision. The findings suggest that the environment does affect the ethical decision making process as defined by the relative importance of the variables. Within each environment, personal demographic variables of entrepreneurs were also found to affect their ethical decision making process. Such variables included entrepreneurial orientation, gender, love of money, financial security, spirituality/religiosity, idealism, and relativism. By considering the effects of the ethical environment along with the demographics of the entrepreneur, potential investors may be able to more accurately gauge investment opportunities. Implications of the findings, limitations of the study, and future research areas are discussed.

Os empreendedores sociais são protagonistas na abordagem de problemas sociais no Brasil. Contudo, mesmo com esse destaque, pouco ainda se sabe sobre as particularidades desses profissionais. A aprendizagem desses indivíduos é um dos assuntos que carecem da atenção dos acadêmicos. Desse modo, uma das teorias que oportuniza análises a respeito da aprendizagem desses indivíduos é a Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) de Kolb (1984), que relata que a aprendizagem é o processo de criação de conhecimentos a partir da transformação das experiências do indivíduo. Um dos subprodutos da ELT é o conceito dos estilos de aprendizagem: traços pessoais que servem como indicadores de como os indivíduos percebem, interagem e respondem aos ambientes de aprendizagem. Para Alonso et al. (1997), existem quatro diferentes tipos de estilos de aprendizagem: o pragmático, o teórico, o ativo e o reflexivo. Assim, os autores elaboraram o instrumento Cuestionario Honey y Alonso sobre Estilos de Aprendizaje (CHAEA) para verificarem os estilos de aprendizagem dos indivíduos e realizarem análises relativas ao assunto. Dessa forma, a presente pesquisa se propôs a analisar a aprendizagem dos empreendedores sociais brasileiros à luz da Experiential Learning Theory, utilizando, para isso, o instrumento CHAEA. Primeiramente, os 90 empreendedores sociais brasileiros pesquisados tiveram seus estilos de aprendizagem verificados e os resultados foram analisados por meio de análises estatísticas univariadas e bivariadas. Assim, foi constatado que o estilo pragmático, o estilo teórico, o estilo ativo e o estilo reflexivo somam, respectivamente, 36,7%, 31,1%, 24,4%, e 7,8% da preferência geral dos pesquisados. Num segundo momento, particularidades e tendências relativas à aprendizagem desses indivíduos foram discutidas, e hipóteses foram produzidas. Essas hipóteses oferecem margem para o desenvolvimento de novos estudos relacionados ao tema. É indicado que as futuras pesquisas procurem trabalhar com amostras mais numerosas e com outros tipos de análises estatísticas. À parte das descobertas em relação à aprendizagem dos pesquisados e das hipóteses desenvolvidas, esta pesquisa também teve outro desdobramento relacionado ao estudo do empreendedorismo social no Brasil: o delineamento do perfil do empreendedor social brasileiro. Foi encontrado que esse indivíduo se caracteriza, majoritariamente, por ser identificado com o gênero masculino, ser jovem, declarar-se da raça ou cor branca, possuir alto grau de escolaridade e estar envolvido há pouco tempo com iniciativas sociais. O perfil constatado corrobora o perfil encontrado por outros autores e traz maior solidez para a discussão do tema. De forma geral, esta pesquisa colaborou para o avanço das pesquisas relativas ao empreendedorismo social e à aprendizagem experiencial no Brasil. Também foi viabilizada para os empreendedores sociais brasileiros participantes a oportunidade de verificarem seus estilos de aprendizagem e, assim, entenderem melhor suas próprias particularidades quanto à aprendizagem. Por último, destaca-se a contribuição para com instituições voltadas à educação, que por meio dos resultados desta pesquisa poderão aprimorar seus cursos direcionados aos empreendedores sociais. / Social entrepreneurs are central figures in addressing societal problems in Brazil. Nevertheless, despite the spotlights being pointed on these individuals, little is known about their particularities. Their learning process, for instance, is a subject lacking academic research. Therefore, one way to analyze their learning process is through the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) present by Kolb (1984), which says that learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. One of the ELT's sub-products is the learning styles concept, which suggests that personal traits work as indicators of how someone perceives, interacts and responds to learning environments. Alonso et al. (1997) proposed four different learning styles: pragmatist, theorist, activist and reflector. As a result, the authors created the survey Cuestionario Honey y Alonso sobre Estilos de Aprendizaje (CHAEA) to verify someone's learning style and to carry out analysis about their learning process. Thus, the present research aims to analyze Brazilian social entrepreneurs' learning process in the light of the Experiential Learning Theory, using, to that end, the CHAEA survey. Primarily, the 90 Brazilian social entrepreneurs studied in this research had their learning styles verified and their results analyzed through univariate and bivariate techniques. Thus, it was determined that the pragmatist style, the theorist style, the activist style and the reflector style represented, respectively, 36.7%, 31.1%, 24.4%, and 7.8% of the participant’s general preference. Secondly, particularities and tendencies regarding the Brazilian social entrepreneurs studied were discussed, and hypotheses were produced. This hypotheses offer a clear research path to anyone interested in developing new studies about the subject. It is indicated for future researches to work with larger samples and with other types of statistical analysis. Besides the discoveries regarding the participant's learning process and the hypotheses developed, this research also presented other outcome related to social entrepreneurship studies in Brazil: the establishment of the Brazilian social entrepreneur profile. It was found that these individuals are characterized, mostly, by recognizing themselves as males, by being young, by declaring themselves as white individuals, by possessing a high schooling level and by getting involved recently with social enterprises. The profile formed supports profiles described by other authors in their researches and brings a meaningful consolidation regarding the subject discussion. In general, this research contributed to the advance of researches related to social entrepreneurship and to experiential learning in Brazil. In a practical viewpoint, it was made possible for the Brazilian social entrepreneurs which were part of this research to verify their learning styles and, thus, understand better their own particularities regarding their learning processes. Lastly, the contribution to educational institutions needs to be addressed. Through the results of this research it will be possible for these establishments to improve their courses designed for social entrepreneurs.

Submitted by Naylia Martinez (na_cmb@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-03-05T16:13:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 NAYLIA MARTINEZ.docx: 3101905 bytes, checksum: 07b151a2704ad12ec293705efa765719 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luana Rodrigues (luana.rodrigues@fgv.br) on 2014-03-06T14:18:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 NAYLIA MARTINEZ.docx: 3101905 bytes, checksum: 07b151a2704ad12ec293705efa765719 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-03-06T14:22:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NAYLIA MARTINEZ.docx: 3101905 bytes, checksum: 07b151a2704ad12ec293705efa765719 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-23 / The person of the entrepreneur has intrigued academics for years. Consequently, numerous approaches have been applied to understand who the entrepreneur is, his personality and behaviors. The main schools debating about this topic are the psychological traits school and the processes or behaviors school. However, the academy still lacks an agreed upon definition of the individual triggering the entrepreneurial phenomenon. Consequently, in an attempt to clarify this issue, this research suggests a new approach for understanding the individual of the entrepreneur on the basis of Schwartz’s personal values. Hence the objective of this study is to understand the values profile of social and commercial entrepreneurs in order to determine their similarities which guide their common entrepreneurial behavior and their differences which generate their different entrepreneurial focus, one aiming at social and the other at private wealth. For this purpose, the shorter version of Schwartz’s Profile Values Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 44 social entrepreneurs and 71 commercial entrepreneurs. The first proposition of this study was that social and commercial entrepreneurs possess a value profile. The second was that this value profile was determined by the anxiety organizing principle with preponderance of the anxiety-free over the anxiety-based values. The third proposition was that commercial as well as social entrepreneurs attribute highest importance for the self-direction value. The fourth proposition was that social entrepreneurs give higher importance than commercial entrepreneurs for benevolence and universalism values because these values presume appreciation of others, preservation and enhancement of the welfare of 'in group' people as well as of any living being in general. The results of descriptive analyses and hypotheses testing point to the validation of all propositions except the last one. Nevertheless, although not statistically confirming the last proposition, a slight tendency of social entrepreneurs giving higher importance than commercial entrepreneurs for the selftranscendence values was identified. Consequently, other studies with larger and randomized samples should be conducted to better clarify this topic. / O empreendedor tem intrigado acadêmicos há anos. Portanto, inúmeras abordagens têm sido aplicadas para entender quem é o empreendedor, sua personalidade e comportamentos. As principais escolas de estudo sobre o tema são a escola de traços psicológicos e a escola de processos ou comportamentos. No entanto, a academia ainda carece de uma definição concreta do indivíduo responsável pelo fenômeno do empreendedorismo. Em uma tentativa de esclarecer essa questão esta pesquisa sugere uma nova abordagem para a compreensão da pessoa do empreendedor com base nos valores pessoais de Schwartz. O objetivo da tese é compreender o perfil de valores de empreendedores sociais e comerciais a fim de determinar as semelhanças e diferenças nas suas preferências de valores que orientam o comportamento empreendedor de ambos e o enfoque social de um e privado do outro. Para este fim a versão mais curta do Questionário de Perfil Valores de Schwartz foi aplicada a uma amostra de 44 empreendedores sociais e 71 comerciais. A primeira proposição da tese era que os empreendedores sociais e comerciais possuiriam um perfil de valores. A segunda era que este perfil de valores seria determinado pelo princípio organizador da ansiedade com preferência pelos valores 'livres de ansiedade' em decorrência das características empreendedoras que enfatizam busca pela auto-expansão, crescimento e promoção do alcance de metas. Dessa forma os valores mais importantes para ambos os tipos de empreendedores seriam auto-determinação, estimulação, hedonismo, universalismo e benevolência. A terceira proposição era que os empreendedores sociais e comerciais atribuiriam a mais alta importância ao valor auto-determinação. A quarta propunha que os empreendedores sociais dariam maior importância do que os comerciais para benevolência e universalismo visto que esses valores presumem apreciação pelos outros, preservação e valorização do bem-estar das pessoas mais próximas bem como de qualquer ser vivo em geral. Os resultados das análises descritivas e dos testes de hipóteses apontam para a validação de todas as proposições menos a última. No entanto, apesar da quarta proposição não haver sido estatisticamente comprovada, houve uma leve tendência dos empreendedores sociais darem maior importância do que os comerciais aos valores de auto-transcendência. Conseqüentemente, para maiores esclarecimentos sobre esse tópico, outros estudos com amostras maiores e randômicas devem ser realizadas.

Submitted by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2011-11-28T13:31:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1418703.pdf: 4591222 bytes, checksum: 704a5c9e586b8098d64e2f4080a48c7d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2011-11-28T13:31:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 1418703.pdf: 4591222 bytes, checksum: 704a5c9e586b8098d64e2f4080a48c7d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2011-11-28T13:31:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 1418703.pdf: 4591222 bytes, checksum: 704a5c9e586b8098d64e2f4080a48c7d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-11-28T13:31:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1418703.pdf: 4591222 bytes, checksum: 704a5c9e586b8098d64e2f4080a48c7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Esta pesquisa busca compreender como empreendedores sociais constroem e mantêm a sustentabilidade de seus empreendimentos. Para tanto, utilizou-se a metodologia de Estudo de Casos Múltiplos e da análise dos dados coletados em contraste com a teoria existente sobre empreendedorismo social. Os resultados apontaram que a construção dessa sustentabilidade foi composta por aspectos relativos às características dos empreendedores que conceberam e conduzem as instituições e também a fatores relativos ao modelo de negócio adotado nestes empreendimentos. / This study seeks to comprehend how do social entrepreneurs build and maintain the sustentability of their social enterprises. Thus, it was adopted the multiple case study methodology and the analysis of the obtained data in contrast to the extant theory of social entrepreneurship. The results indicated that the build of that sustentability was composed by aspects related to characteristics of the entrepreneurs that conceived and lead the enterprises and also by factors related to the business model adopted on these undertakings.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniel Branchini da Silva.pdf: 532572 bytes, checksum: ad6bc341b47c91a44ad543482789afe0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-20 / The word entrepreneur, which comes from the French entrepreneur, means the one that takes in hands , and it was originally coined by economists such as Jean-Baptiste Say around 1800 to describe the individual that transfers economic resources from a sector of lower productivity to a higher and more profitable one. Later, in the 20th Century, Joseph Schumpeter adds the perspective of innovation as an essential feature, showing that the entrepreneur is the one who promotes a true destruction of the economic order by the introduction of new products and services. Such background reveals how much the word entrepreneur still preserves these features even today, for now it is being used to describe somebody who identifies opportunities, takes risks and makes things happen. In the last three decades, in a context marked by the State s social welfare bankruptcy and by the strengthening of the companies, the word social entrepreneur has appeared to outline the action of a specific type of entrepreneur who works in favor of the collectivity, searching for innovative solutions to emergent demands in areas such as education, health, environment, job and income generation, advocacy and other similar causes, aiming to promote systemic social changes in a sustainable perspective. Therefore, the objective of this research was to investigate the identity of this social entrepreneur, considering his historical roots, ideals and achievements in order to find out if there was an effective emancipation movement towards a post-conventional identity on his part. Thus, seven half-controlled interviews were carried out with individuals formally recognized as social entrepreneurs, whose life histories revealed that most of them continue playing the conventional role labeled by society, but that some have already been anticipating a movement that could indicate a new role to arise soon. Amongst the newly identified characters, one of them seems more like a regulating agent , whose cause involves the normatization of the system, and the other one seems like an emancipatory activist , whose cause is to give voice to the population segments that are ignored by society, stimulating the community itself to obtain its own emancipation / O termo empreendedor, derivado do francês entrepreneur, que significa aquele que toma em mãos , foi originalmente cunhado por economistas como Jean-Baptiste Say, em torno de 1800, para descrever o indivíduo que transfere recursos econômicos de um setor de menor produtividade para outro mais elevado e de maior rendimento. Mais tarde, no século XX, Joseph Schumpeter acrescenta a dimensão da inovação como característica essencial, mostrando que o empreendedor é aquele que promove uma verdadeira destruição da ordem econômica por meio da introdução de novos produtos e serviços. Tal histórico revela o quanto ainda hoje o termo empreendedor preserva essas características, por ser utilizado para descrever alguém que identifica oportunidades, assume riscos e faz acontecer. Nas últimas três décadas, em um contexto pautado pela falência do Estado do bem-estar social e pelo fortalecimento das empresas, o termo empreendedor social surge para delimitar a atuação de um tipo específico de empreendedor que age em prol da coletividade, buscando soluções inovadoras para demandas emergentes em áreas como educação, saúde, meio-ambiente, geração de emprego e renda, defesa de direitos e outras causas similares, com a pretensão de promover transformações sociais sistêmicas, em uma perspectiva sustentável. Portanto, o objetivo da presente pesquisa foi investigar a identidade deste empreendedor social, considerando suas raízes históricas, ideais e realizações, com o propósito de descobrir se havia por parte dele um efetivo movimento emancipatório em direção a uma identidade pós-convencional. Para tal, foram feitas entrevistas semi-dirigidas com sete sujeitos caracterizados formalmente como empreendedores sociais, cujas histórias de vida revelaram que a maioria deles continua desempenhando o papel convencionalizado pela sociedade, mas que alguns já estão antecipando um movimento que pode indicar uma mudança de papel em breve. Dentre as novas personagens encontradas, uma se assemelha mais a um agente regulador , cuja causa envolve a normatização do sistema e outra a um ativista emancipatório cuja causa é dar voz a segmentos da população que não são ouvidos, incentivando que a própria comunidade consiga se emancipar

近年來，許多創業者以解決社會問題為己任，投身於社會創業的行列。有些創業者選擇創立社會企業，希望以社會企業的型態營運，同時創造社會價值與經濟價值；有些創業者則選擇以非營利組織的型態運作，不因利潤追求而背離解決社會問題的初衷。無論是何種組織型態，從開始創業到發展至有穩定營運模式的創業歷程，是決定組織是否存活、創造社會價值的關鍵階段。因此本研究欲探討社會創業者如何走過社會創業歷程，提供有志於社會創業者參考。 本研究採個案研究法，選擇「社企流」、「Venture For Taiwan」、「Design For Change Taiwan」、「Teach For Taiwan」作為研究個案，從Timmons Model創業三要素「機會」、「團隊」、「資源」分析個案及討論「三要素動態關係」，並以Effectuation理論檢視「創業者行為」，透過不同面向來探討個案從「志工團隊」發展至「自主創業」的創業歷程。 研究結果發現，社會創業者能持續挖掘機會，重新定義社會問題、找到商業機會；社會創業者能在核心團隊與外部支持體系間，建立良好的內外部成員互動關係；社會創業者能有效槓桿社會資源取得資源，並有意識地累積組織資源，使組織發展具方向性。在創業三要素動態關係間，除了Timmons強調的創意、溝通、領導之外，本研究認為社會創業者更具備運用人脈、策略、彈性的能力，以平衡創業三要素之動態關係。 本研究亦透過實際操作發現，若以Effectuation理論檢視創業歷程，創業實踐始於模糊的機會與有限的資源，而透過與他人互動後形成團隊、累積資源，進而創造出更具體機會，並往下一個循環邁進。此一理論可輔助研究者觀察創業者行為動態，並連結回機會、團隊、資源三要素，有助創業歷程動態研究。

“What role did branding play in the social marketing processes of the three Schwab Foundation award winning social enterprises (SEs)?” The research problem, as well as the research questions, revolve around the issue of establishing how branding may be employed as part of the social marketing process in such a way as to increase the competitiveness of those organisations known as social enterprises (SEs). This study investigates three SEs whose Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have won The Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur (SFSE) of the Year Awards, to determine how branding was used as a communication tool to position their organisations as leaders and differentiators in the development sector. The three SEs that were chosen as case study organisations are: Soul City, Heartbeat and the Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC). The theoretical context focuses firstly on the non-profit sector in South Africa as the context and environment of this study, more specifically, the evolution of non-profit organisations (NPOs) into Social Enterprises (SEs). This is followed by defining communication principles and applications as they appear in both profit-driven and non-profit organisations/social enterprises (NPOs/SEs). This is applied in two different communication contexts: communication within corporate organisations and communication within development organisations. The last theoretical focus is placed on understanding what branding means, a description of the different branding categories, and a view of the evolution of branding to brand building and brand leadership. This is followed by a discussion on the importance of brand identity and equity in the process of brand development, brand management and measurement, including a presentation of the main role players in this brand-building process. Branding is then discussed as it is applied in SEs, outlining what a strong brand could do for the development sector. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches are utilised; more specifically a qualitative research approach, supported by a quantitative one, referred to as the “dominant less-dominant model”. This study is based on the grounded theory model supported by a collective case study approach, also referred to as “building theories from case study research”. The study further indicates the theory that was generated by this study, namely “The Social Enterprise (SE) branding layered grounded theory model”. Whereas the 1st layer displays the important role that the NPO/SE sector if fulfilling in modern society; the 2nd layer the specific space and linkages of SEs with the different other society sectors are explained; the 3rd layer positions/similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with the growth path of NPOs towards SEs and their own sustainability on the NPO/SE pyramid model; the 4th layer indicates the fact that the same corporate communication principles applies to the development sector; and the 5th layer stresses the important role that branding plays as the core element of a corporate communication strategy. In summary, the study found that a lack of implementation of corporate communication in NPOs and SEs, more specifically the absence of a corporate identity, image and a strategic brand management process, has a direct impact on the effectiveness of SEs’ communication and limits the achievement of their developmental objectives. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Information Science / unrestricted

Considering the current skepticism surrounding the impact and efficacy of nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, some believe that a unique category of innovator known as the social entrepreneur may be society’s best hope for bringing innovative, scalable, and systemic solutions to bear on the world’s most intractable problems. Social entrepreneurs, as defined by Ashoka, have a unique set of characteristics that determine not only how they move within the world of social change-making but also how they communicate their ideas and mission to the public. This exploratory study reviewed how social entrepreneurs currently use documentary film and visual media in their communications strategy and public relations practice, what that tells us about the emerging culture of social entrepreneurs, and whether documentary, as defined by John Grierson, is an appropriate tool for these organizations. The author interviewed three founders, three communications professionals, and three filmmakers associated with social entrepreneurial organizations and observed a course for student filmmakers learning to make documentaries for social entrepreneurs. The findings of this study suggested that social entrepreneurs used documentary film as a communications tool when it aligned with their stated missions and goals but that cost, time, and control were significant barriers to implementation. Additionally, social entrepreneurs in all phases of development exhibited a unique set of cultural characteristics that interacted with the intent, content, and effect of their films in both positive and negative ways. The author also noted three distinct levels of filmmaker involvement with social entrepreneurial organizations that impacted the intent, content, and effect of their respective films. These levels of involvement are described as collaborative, independent, and interdependent. While the author offers some provocative observations about the role of documentary in social entrepreneurial organizations, this study remains exploratory in nature. She suggests several additional avenues of research that may further the scholarly conversation and continue to shed light on documentary film as communication for and by social entrepreneurs.

Background: The world’s population is confronting challenges related to sustainability. Businesses can and should contribute to solving these challenges, through their activities. Social entrepreneurs are the driving force of scaling social enterprises, through which economic and social value can be maximized. Hence, it is important to understand the leadership factors that shape a social entrepreneur’s capability to lead scaling processes. Purpose: To explore the role leadership factors play in social entrepreneurs’ capability to scale social enterprises Method: Ontology- Relativism; Epistemology- Social constructionism; Strategy- Qualitative, Exploratory; Design- Inductive, Grounded theory; Data collection- 11 Semi-structured interviews; Sampling- Purposive, Snowball; Data analysis- Grounded analysis. Conclusion: Several leadership factors, including background, personality characteristics and skills, motivation, team, work environment, networks and partnerships, environmental forces, and underlying factors, are identified as shaping social entrepreneurs’ capability to scale. By acknowledging not only multiple leadership factors but also on what level they exist and how they are connected, novel insights about social entrepreneurs’ capability to scale are offered.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renata M Brunetti.pdf: 718848 bytes, checksum: 89a26be7bf7d94724e3d31f6ed6330a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-12 / The objective of the research that originated this text was, by means of the analysis of the interviews with a few Ashoka fellows social figure, try to identify spaces in our society, in which actions that promote emancipation are possible. Trying to locate models, recipes, pre-defined and replicable solutions; however, the reading and listening during the works carried us in another direction. Some forms of defining a name for the social figure were questioned, since they don t spontaneously fit as entrepreneurs, nor as the well known militant. Social poets and polyglots were names used in this work to enhance their qualities in social listening and mediation. The interview analyses showed they strongly value local knowledge, are multifocal have multiple interests, are incapturable. Differently from the old paradigm, instead of defining forms of producing the world, they go out there the world, Habermas life-world listening and translating it, and mediating it with the systemic world . The main theoretical inspiration belongs to the philosopher J. Habermas. We reflected some of his recent theoretical concerns, not avoiding however, referring to other authors and propositions. High interests were placed in providing sense and meaning to our interviewees. Thus in this work, theory is at the service of an empirical world. The comprehension of the experience performed with our interviewees as well as that of the interviewees with their communities was the key element, that as such, selected the theory. Lastly, the work suggests that these social figures, with their actions, seem to rehearse changes in the political culture with the strengthening of civil society, as well as a change in knowledge paradigm. The rehearsal a political culture that may results, first and foremost, in facing our conscious individual and social responsibilities / O objetivo da pesquisa que deu origem a este texto foi tentar localizar em nossa sociedade, por meio da análise de entrevistas com alguns fellows da Ashoka figuras sociais , espaços nos quais ações que promovam emancipação sejam possíveis. Foram questionadas algumas formas para nomear essa figura social, uma vez que ela não se enquadra espontaneamente como um empreendedor, nem como o conhecido militante. Poetas e poliglotas do social foram os nomes utilizados neste trabalho para valorizar suas qualidades de escuta do social e de mediação. A análise das entrevistas apontou que eles valorizam sobremaneira os saberes locais, são multifocais possuem múltiplos interesses, são incapturáveis. Diferentemente do antigo paradigma, em vez de definir formas de produzir o mundo, vão até lá o mundo, o mundo da vida de Habermas o escutam, o traduzem e fazem sua mediação com o mundo sistêmico . A inspiração teórica principal é do filósofo J. Habermas. Refletimos algumas das suas recentes preocupações teóricas. Não evitamos, porém, recorrer a outros autores e outras proposições. Interessou-nos sobremaneira dar sentido e significado aos nossos entrevistados e, então, nesse trabalho, a teoria está a serviço do mundo empírico. A compreensão da experiência que fizemos com os nossos entrevistados e aquela que os entrevistados fazem com a comunidade foi o elemento guia que, por assim dizer, selecionou a teoria. Por fim, o trabalho sugere que essas figuras sociais, com suas atividades parecem ensaiar mudanças na cultura política com fortalecimento da sociedade civil e uma mudança no paradigma do conhecimento. Uma cultura política que implica, antes de tudo, a conscientização de nossa responsabilidade individual e social