Capability building combined with microcredit: the loan alone is insufficient

The article analyses the specific features of a social innovation aimed at assisting a social group, which is not simply marginalized, but also socially excluded at least for decades. It focuses on the activities of a non-profit corporation providing microcredit, mentoring and other social services to undereducated, unemployed and socially excluded Roma people in Hungary. The paper relies on the capability approach developed by Sen and Nussbaum. The main conclusion is that providing loans without capability building can lead to a mission drift towards less disadvantaged groups, and consequently the exclusion of the most disadvantaged may even increase.