Rachel Jafta delivers inaugural lecture

On Tuesday, 5 February, Professor Rachel Jafta delivered her inaugural lecture in the Department of Economics. Attended by vice-rector prof Eugene Cloete and several other dignitaries, prof Jafta reflected on the role of social entrepreneurship in society by discussing the "Economics at the Carnival: From social entrepreneurship to social cohesion". She noted that social entrepreneurship, and the innovation and creation of social capital assocated with the activities of social entrepreneurs, are increasingly seen as a means of bridging the gap between the 'formal' world of governments and corporations, and the 'informal' world of community-based organisation and the voluntary sector. Using the Cape Town Carnival as case study she argued that sentiments, such as hope and new perspectives, are not easily quantifiable and therefore often neglected in formal economic analysis.