Since the opening up of China in the 1980s, society has focussed largely on individual value creation, the production of wealth for individual and familial purposes. This has led to a crisis in society where the gap between rich and poor has increased. As a province, Tibet is now at the lowest of the UN Development Index in all of China's provinces, calling for radical change in order to alleviate poverty and in so doing reduce social unrest. This paper puts forward the idea that opportunities for social entrepreneurship in Tibet should be encouraged by both the private and public sector. Entrepreneurs are individuals willing to take risks for profit maximisation. Social entrepreneurs on the other hand are concerned with two types of value creation, financial and social. The primary motivation of these people is not to maximise profits but rather to improve society as a whole. Social entrepreneurship differs greatly from social activism. The former requires individuals to work together with the government, donors and other private businesses to achieve its purposes. The latter on the other hand compromises the position of the government although it may draw attention to issues facing society. Social entrepreneurship enables civil issues to be dealt with directly without negatively disrupting other groups in close communities. To identify how this should be implemented, firstly the history and cases of social entrepreneurship in other developing countries are examined. Its existence and development in China is then scrutinised. Finally, possibilities for its implementation in Tibetan society will be considered. These possibilities will take local regional characteristics and industries into consideration, including subsistence farming and the tourism industry. This will result in not only financial prosperity being brought to the region, but also social stability due to directly addressing the needs of the local communities.

(Joella Louise Allott, instructor of Beijing Foreign Studies University)