Votre recherche

Social innovation (SI) is a promising concept that has been developed and mobilized in academia, government policies, philanthropic programs, entrepreneurial projects. Scholars propose multiple conceptions and categorization of what is SI (trajectories, approaches, theoretical strands, paradigms, streams). Some recent work has also addressed the question of who is doing SI. In both cases, the what and the who remain the key characteristic of SI. Two approaches are confronted: one where SI is more presented as a concept that reproduces the neoliberal–capitalist societies; a second that conceives SI as a transformative and emancipatory pathway. With this article, I contribute to the possibilities to conceive SI as performative concept. My proposition is to analyze SI as a discourse with precise performative practices and apparatus. By doing so, it allows scholars and practitioners to better reflect and identify the effects, tensions and ambivalence and possibilities of SI. Moreover, it gives us few key aspects of what might constitute an emancipatory social innovation.

The term ‘social innovation’ has come to gather all manner of meanings from policymakers and politicians across the political spectrum. But while actors may unproblematically unite around a broad perspective of social innovation as bringing about (positive) social change, we rarely see evidence of a shared vision for the kind of social change that social innovation ought to bring about. Taking inspiration from methods that recognise the utopian thinking inherent in the social innovation concept, we draw upon Erik Olin Wright’s concept of ‘real utopias’ to investigate the moral underpinnings inherent in the public statements of Ashoka, one of the most prominent social innovation actors operating in the world today. We seek to animate discussion on the moral principles that guide social innovation discourse through examining the problems that Ashoka is trying to solve through social innovation, the world they are striving to create, and the strategies they propose to realise their vision.

Provides a guide to the development of innovative mindsets for new and seasoned researchers, students and other practitioners who collaborate with social science researchers Rather than focusing on how and why specific research methodologies are employed, the book increases meaningful research by developing transferable mindsets, across every stage of the research production Uniquely accessible by conveying key concepts via a combination of theoretical research, allegories and conversations emerging from the author’s unique perspective as a millennial academic researcher of lived experience and documentary filmmaker

Notion sujette à controverses, l’innovation sociale est appropriée au Québec par divers acteurs ayant le changement social à cœur et finit par constituer son propre écosystème. Il se compose, entre autres, des praticiens qui professionnalisent une démarche d’accompagnement à l’innovation sociale : les consultants. Stimulés par la mise en place de modèles sociétaux alternatifs visant une transformation sociale durable, les processus qu’ils élaborent s’écartent des modèles traditionnels de la consultation en management. Considérant cela, ce projet de recherche aborde la question suivante : en quoi consiste la consultation en innovation sociale? Outre la compréhension des principales approches et questions soulevées dans la littérature par les concepts d’innovation sociale et de consultation, ce mémoire explore les tensions et paradoxes inhérents au champ de l’innovation sociale. Il se consacre plus précisément à une étude comparative des pratiques de consultation mises en œuvre par des praticiens de différentes organisations œuvrant dans le milieu, et le rôle qu’ils jouent dans le changement social.

This article responds to increasing public and academic discourses on social innovation, which often rest on the assumption that social innovation can drive societal change and empower actors to deal with societal challenges and a retreating welfare state. In order to scrutinise this assumption, this article proposes a set of concepts to study the dynamics of transformative social innovation and underlying processes of multi-actor (dis)empowerment. First, the concept of transformative social innovation is unpacked by proposing four foundational concepts to help distinguish between different pertinent 'shades' of change and innovation: 1) social innovation, (2) system innovation, (3) game-changers, and (4) narratives of change. These concepts, invoking insights from transitions studies and social innovations literature, are used to construct a conceptual account of how transformative social innovation emerges as a co-evolutionary interaction between diverse shades of change and innovation. Second, the paper critically discusses the dialectic nature of multi-actor (dis)empowerment that underlies such processes of change and innovation. The paper then demonstrates how the conceptualisations are applied to three empirical case-studies of transformative social innovation: Impact Hub, Time Banks and Credit Unions. In the conclusion we synthesise how the concepts and the empirical examples help to understand contemporary shifts in societal power relations and the changing role of the welfare state.

Dans un contexte de multiplication des expériences innovatrices, le présent ouvrage veut faire reconnaître les pratiques émergentes comme étant valables et justes, et montrer leur capacité à transformer le monde. Ainsi, les auteurs prônent le passage d’une vision minimaliste de l’innovation sociale, selon laquelle les acteurs sociaux et communautaires agissent de manière à pallier l’« austéritarisme » gouvernemental et les insuffisances provoquées par le marché, à une approche plus large, orientée vers une véritable transformation sociale, économique et territoriale. Cette approche rappelle que les objectifs du développement économique doivent être soumis aux impératifs sociétaux et environnementaux. Ainsi, lutter pour faire reconnaître le pouvoir de la société civile de réinventer le monde, c’est réagir au déni de l’alternative, si présent dans le discours des décideurs. C’est aussi donner à voir des initiatives peu valorisées par ces discours, parce qu’elles ne s’inscrivent pas dans leur logique économique, laquelle est essentiellement productiviste et destructrice. Penser la transition, c’est réimaginer des institutions et des pratiques capables d’accroître la capacité des collectivités à favoriser le bien commun. C’est affirmer qu’une société créative et innovatrice devrait adhérer à une vision large de l’innovation, orientée vers le développement économique, mais aussi vers la création d’un écosystème d’innovation où les progrès technologiques et sociaux se croisent et se complètent, écosystème qui devrait repenser les rapports inégalitaires entre les genres, les populations et les territoires.

As we grapple with how to respond to some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as inequality, poverty and climate change, there is growing global interest in ‘social innovation’ as a potential solution. But what exactly is ‘social innovation’? This book describes three ways to theorise social innovation when seeking to manage and organize for both social and economic progress.

The 21st century has brought a cornucopia of new knowledge and technologies. But there has been little progress in our ability to solve social problems using social innovation – the deliberate invention of new solutions to meet social needs - across the globe. Geoff Mulgan is a pioneer in the global field of social innovation. Building on his experience advising international governments, businesses and foundations, he explains how it provides answers to today’s global social, economic and sustainability issues. He argues for matching R&D in technology and science with a socially focused R&D and harnessing creative imagination on a larger scale than ever before. Weaving together history, ideas, policy and practice, he shows how social innovation is now coming of age, offering a comprehensive view of what can be done to solve the global social challenges we face.

This paper examines the evolution in the conceptualization of Social Innovation (SI) with a view to elucidating the multiplication of uses of the term over the last half century. We performed a comprehensive and systematic literature review extracting 252 definitions of SI through a search of 2,339 documents comprising academic papers, books and book chapters, together research and policy reports. To guide the inductive analysis of pluri-vocal discourses we assume innovation to be a learning-based process involving actors’ interactions and social practices. We apply mixed qualitative methodologies, combining content analysis based on an interpretivist ontology with cognitive mapping techniques. Our findings show that SI was introduced as an analytical concept by incipient academic communities and has spread in the last decades as a normative concept fuelled by development and innovation policies. SI is defined by a set of common core elements underpinning three different and interrelated discursive ‘areas’: processes of social change, sustainable development and the services sector. We point to some policy implications and a number of promising avenues for research towards the advancement of a broader socio-technical theory of innovation.

Social innovation research has been increasing over the last decades in many countries and fields of study. This study understands social innovation (SI) as a way to mitigate social problems, resulting in new or improved solution for a specific community. This paper analyzes the research in the field of social innovation in the business management area, understanding its antecedents and trends. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to propose a framework to guide further research in social innovation. Through a systematic literature review, the paper offers a preliminary framework with sub-themes of interest, possible contexts and actors involved in social innovation initiatives. The antecedents showed that the SI since the first concepts presents issues related to social change and has evolved to understand the relationships between different actors, between institutions and the social context where it is inserted. The trends link the SI to areas such as institutional theory; social movements theory; power and multi-actors perspective.

The rise of social innovation expresses a discontent with innovation as we know it, and its ability to deliver just and sustainable outcomes. Yet, social innovation is also notoriously vague as a concept, thereby putting into doubt whether the concept offers any real improvements or alternatives. This paper issues an invitation to think about social innovation as a collaborative concept. The conceptual framework shows collaboration, rather than contestation, to offer a space for the working together of different perspectives and actors. The collaborative concept frame welcomes and seeks to explain a diversity of uses. Singling out key features of social innovation as a collaborative concept, it seeks to contribute to an emerging practice that makes different contributions part of a progressive conversation about social innovation, the evaluative ideas associated with it and the evidence from policies and projects. Identifying transformative, taxonomical and transitional–sceptical uses of social innovation, the paper highlights the importance of analysing the evaluative aspects of the multisectoral reconfigurations associated with social innovation so as to keep track of its role for justice and sustainability.

Les innovations sociales, à la manière de bougies d’allumage, engendrent des actions collectives qui proposent des solutions différentes de celles des pratiques dominantes en mettant l’économie au service des personnes et de la société. Or la simple multiplication des innovations sociales ne peut générer la transformation sociale à elle seule. La mise en relation des mouvements sociaux et de leur visée émancipatoire est nécessaire pour façonner de nouvelles normes et règles et mettre en place de nouveaux sentiers institutionnels. Ce sont certains de ces nouveaux sentiers que montrent les textes regroupés dans cet ouvrage. Fruit du ive Colloque international du Centre de recherche sur les innovations sociales, il expose les enjeux que pose la trans-formation sociale par l’innovation sociale et les documente par des illustrations ciblées sur des thématiques ou des expériences précises. Une discussion théorique sur le lien entre l’innovation sociale et la transformation sociale est d’abord proposée, puis les méthodes d’analyse de l’innovation sociale, le partage de connaissance entre les chercheurs et les acteurs sociaux, le rôle de l’État et des politiques publiques, l’économie solidaire et la place de l’entreprise sociale sont abordés. L’ensemble des textes analytiques et des textes illustratifs de cet ouvrage offre des pistes de réflexion sur la transformation sociale par l’inno-vation sociale, c’est-à-dire sur la façon dont certaines expérimen-tations aboutissent à la transformation de la société. L’ouvrage met ainsi de l’avant le rôle des citoyens et des organisations qui travaillent pour le bien-être des collectivités en expérimentant des solutions à leurs problèmes et en se mobilisant pour exiger leur reconnaissance. Il vise à poser les jalons pour comprendre et participer à la reconstruction sociale déjà à l’œuvre, dans le but de la renforcer.

Interest in social innovation continues to rise, from governments setting up social innovation 'labs' to large corporations developing social innovation strategies. Yet theory lags behind practice, and this hampers our ability to understand social innovation and make the most of its potential. This collection brings together work by leading social innovation researchers globally, exploring the practice and process of researching social innovation, its nature and effects. Combining theoretical chapters and empirical studies, it shows how social innovation is blurring traditional boundaries between the market, the state and civil society, thereby developing new forms of services, relationships and collaborations. It takes a critical perspective, analyzing potential downsides of social innovation that often remain unexplored or are glossed over, yet concludes with a powerful vision of the potential for social innovation to transform society. It aims to be a valuable resource for students and researchers, as well as policymakers and others supporting and leading social innovation.

Définition. "The attention paid to social innovation and the resources involved in the promotion, research, and implementation of social innovation increased, most remarkably after 2008, when the concept became the subject of mainstream policies in high places."

Over the last ten years or so, “social in novation” has become a catchword in some sociological writings and in studies of innovation. The concept is generally presented as new, at least compared to technological innovation, which dates back to the 1940s. Yet the concept of social innovation is in fact two hundred years old. This paper documents the origins of social innovation as a category and its development over the last two centuries. It suggests that social innovation owes its origin to socialism in the nineteenth century and its resurrection in the twenty-first century to technological innovation. The paper analyzes three key moments, or different meanings of social innovation over time: socialism, then social reform, then alternatives to ‘established’ solutions to social needs. The paper concludes with reflections on the residue of these ideas in current theories of social innovation

Le mystère de l’innovation sociale Malgré la popularité croissante de l’innovation sociale qui est mobilisée dans les domaines aussi variés que l’entrepreneuriat social, la philanthropie, la recherche, les programmes universitaires, les organismes communautaires, l’économie sociale, la finance sociale et les politiques publiques, la signification exacte de cette notion reste toujours un mystère. Les multiples réflexions...

Des politiques en faveur de l’innovation sociale se mettent en place à différents niveaux (local, régional, national, européen). Pour autant et malgré l’augmentation exponentielle des références dans la littérature internationale, peut-on s’accorder sur une vision de l’innovation sociale ? Pour les auteurs réunis ici, elle ne constitue ni une recette ni la simple diffusion de ce qu’on appelle des « bonnes pratiques », qui opèreraient dans des systèmes économiques et sociaux inchangés. en effet, les capacités d’initiative de la société civile exigent des changements dans les cadres institutionnels pour construire un nouveau modèle de société inclusif, solidaire et écologique. À partir de l’expérience et des acquis de trois équipes de recherche qui y réfléchissent depuis plus de vingt ans, cet ouvrage alimente le débat théorique sur l’innovation sociale. Il explique aussi pourquoi la thématique est apparue dans une période de mutations contemporaines et montre l’importance pratique qu’elle peut revêtir à travers des exemples de territoires comme de secteurs.