In this article, I would like to support a discussion about a deeper understanding of the concept of social entrepreneurship in the context of its development in European countries during the last few decades which is closely connected to the modernisation of society and some of its consequences. Therefore, I will first very briefly introduce the history of the concept and I will then focus on the modernisation of society and the changes it has brought to an individual, families, communities and the welfare state. I will argue that the concept of social entrepreneurship as it is being perceived and has been developing during the last decades might be connected to the modernisation of society in two possible ways which I would like to describe in this article.