EMES is a research network of university research centers and individual researchers on social enterprise. They aim to build up a body of knowledge around Social Economy concepts.
EMES members look for joint themes and projects that bring different disciplines from the human sciences together: not only sociologists, economists, political and management scientists, but colleagues from historical sciences, law, psychology, or cultural studies as well.
Specifically, the EMES network studies socio-economic entities that, while increasingly important in Europe and elsewhere, remain under-researched.
This research has been so far mostly focused on Europe – a space with its own traditions, peculiar political institutions (like the EU) and therefore an agenda for third sector research that differs to some degree from other regions in the world. However, EMES is now involved in the evolution of research at a broader geographic level via its enlarged international membership and via international partnerships (e.g. with the UNDP and research networks in Latin America and Eastern Asia).