The re-badging of social activity in terms of social entrepreneurship and the rhetoric used to promote the concept can neglect the ideological and political influences at its roots. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, this paper looks at the meanings that are central to individuals labelled as social entrepreneurs, as constructed by them, in order to understand the appropriateness of the entrepreneurship paradigm. It questions whether a discourse analysis approach to studying social entrepreneurship, through looking at meaning in context, is a useful means of understanding the concept as a social phenomenon.