Sustainability at Grassroots through Collective Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Stone Quarry Workers

Abstract

Economists’ argue that entrepreneurship is audaciously stepping out in uncertain conditions to exploit the opportunity arisen from maladjustment in market. Sociologists extend the argument and relate it to a wider social change. They view entrepreneurship as a social movement and found that there are entrepreneurs in spheres other than economy. In the evolving landscape of human development, where the paradigm is shifting over the decades from that of welfare driven, heavily state- provided services to that of rights-based advocacy oriented approach towards social and economic empowerment, face of employment is also changing. From employment guarantee and employment generation programmes at state decided time and space, focus now is on locally produced self-employment in micro units and collective entrepreneurship in community owned enterprises. Cooperatives, Federations, SHGs, JLGs, Producer Company, Farmer Clubs are to name few such concepts. These concepts present more effective answer to the challenge of sustainability that development poses on humanity. This paper endeavors to present a model of collective entrepreneurship based on our experience with unorganized sector workers. In light of the impacts that this intervention made, we propose that collective entrepreneurship is a more sustainable means of promoting entrepreneurship, both at institutional level and at societal level.