Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner and Grameen micro-credit legend, has announced that he will enter politics….with a new party entitled "Nagorik Shakti" which means, appropriately enough, Citizen Power. Read the Bangladesh Daily Star’s take on the announcement. It has long been speculated that he would eventually make the move from social entrepreneur to politician, particularly given the problems of corruption in the country and his own credibility and strong reputation. It will be interesting to see if the impact of his work at the grassroots can translate into a successful political movement….

It is interesting to see these stars of social entrepreneurship seek bigger challenges, and more direct ways to change things for the better (see John Bird as London Mayor also, and, as mentioned a few posts ago, Andrew Mawson going to the House of Lords); it will be interesting to see if it is a trend that continues as people seek figures from outside the mainstream political world who are perceived to have more credibility, more principles and have been seen to ‘do the job’. Or is it a reflection of the frustration of these individuals that they have been unable to make real systemic change from outside that same system?