Whatissocialinnovation?Andwhyisitpoliticallyrelevant?
FrankMoulaertandJeanHillier
KATARSIScoordinators
! Theriseofsocialinnovationasaconceptinscienceandasareferenceinsocio‐politicalmobilization
! Whatissocialinnovation?Socialtransformation,socialeconomy,socialinnovation?
! Socialinnovationinscientificdisciplinesanddimensionsofanalysis
! Itspolitico‐ideologicalsignificance! Spacesandplacesofsocialinnovation! Policyopportunities! References
SCEPTICISM:! Fashion:forthelastfiveyearsthetermhasbecomeubiquitous
andusedintoomanymeanings! Polishingthe‘blazon’ofthebusinessworld?CSR,Green
economy,CorporateGovernance,…! Fromactivetocheapactivewelfarestate?…
RELEVANTOPTIMISM:! Challengingtechnologicalinnovationinbusinesspracticeand
innovationliterature! Socio‐politicalmobilizing:‘slogan’oreven‘marchingorder’–
OpportunitytorevitalizetheWelfarestate?Todemocratizeit?! Growingsynergieswithartsandcreativity! Scientificconceptinsocialscience! Revivalofsolidarityethics
Afewdefinitions…
• SINGOCOM(ALMOLIN,2005:Moulaertetal.1990):Socialinnovationispathdependentandcontextual.Itreferstothosechangesinagendas,agencyandinstitutionsthatleadtoa
betterinclusionofexcludedgroupsandindividualsintovariousspheresofsocietyatvariousspatialscales.Socialinnovationisverystronglyamatterofprocessinnovation,i.e.changesinthedynamicsofsocialrelations,includingpowerrelations.
[…]associalinnovationisaboutsocialinclusion,itisalsoaboutcounteringorovercomingconservativeforcesthatareeagertostrengthenorpreservesocialexclusionsituations.
[….]socialinnovationthereforeexplicitlyreferstoanethicalpositionofsocialjustice.Thelatterisofcoursesusceptibletoavarietyofinterpretationsandwillinpracticeoftenbetheoutcomeofsocialconstruction.
• MichaelMumford:“…thegenerationandimplementationofnewideasaboutsocialrelationshipsandsocialorganization.”(2002,p.253)
• Chambon,DavidetDevevey:“desinnovationssociales”…“despratiquesvisantplusoumoinsdirectementàpermettreàunindividu‐ouàungrouped’individus‐deprendreenchargeunbesoinsocial‐ouunensembledebesoins‐n’ayantpastrouvéderéponsessatisfaisantesparailleurs”(1982,p.8)
DimensionsofSI
Sciencedisciplines
Purposeofinitiativesandagencies
Organizationalchanges
Roleofspecialagents,leadership
Roleofpathdependency
Howtobridgetensionsbetweenethicalnormsand‘reality’?
BusinessandManagementscience
Socialcoherencetoboostreturns
Improvesocialcapital–Democratisedecision‐makingsystems
InnovationAgentsculturedbytheorganization
Roleofhistoryofbusinessadmin.,roleofnetworks
Co‐learningNormaliserelationshipsbetweenleadersandworkers
Heterodoxeconomics
Integratesocialandecologicalgoalsintobusinessagendas
Ex:humanrelationsonthejob,creationofcooperatives
Collectivemulti‐purposeleadership
Tensionsbetweenoldeconomicprinciplesandnewones
Betterembedmentoffirmwithinitssocietalenvironment
Artsandcreativity
Socio‐culturalemancipationSharedsymbols
Socio‐culturallearningdynamicsCommunitybuilding
Roleofartistsandemblematicartprojects
CulturalheritageHistoriccommunities
Artsasaboundaryliftingactandprocess
SocialInnovationinscientificdisciplinesanddimensionsofanalysis(examples)
DimensionsofSI
Sciencedisciplines
Purposeofinitiativesandagencies
Organizationalchanges
Roleofspecialagents,leadership
Roleofpathdependency
Howtobridgetensionsbetweenethicalnormsand‘reality’?
IntegratedAreaDevelopment
Satisfactionofhumanneeds
…inconnectionwithinnovationinsocialrelations(esp.governancerelations)
Yesbutmorestressonroleofcommunityandcollectiveleadership
Sociallyreproducedcharacterofsocialinnovation
NegotiationInstitutionaldesignJointlearningProtestmovements
GovernanceandPublicAdministration
Efficient,transparent,democraticgovernanceandadministration
ReducehierarchyNetworkcommunication
Civilsocietysocialmovements
Surpassbureaucraticrigidityandpolitical‘cenaclism’
Finetuningoforganizationalstructureswithdesireddemocracy
SocialInnovationinscientificdisciplinesanddimensionsofanalysis(2)
• Aclearmobilisingpowerinreactiontoeconomisticandtechnologistinterpretationsofinnovation
• …andinreactiontoprivatizationdiscourseandpractice• …fillingthegapbetweenthefarewelltopublicmanand
theriseofcommunitarianism?• Reactiontoalienation,exclusion,deprivation,poverty
(materialandethicaldimension)• “Micro”ethics:reactiontonewpublicmanagementstyle,
bureaucratictaylorism,workorganizationcodesandpracticesandhowtheyhavealienatedhumanrelationsonandofftheworklfloor.
• QuiteoftenSIisabout‘(re)movingboundaries’:socialboundaries,politicalboundaries,mentalboundaries:reconfiguringidentities,buildingofcommunityidentity,re‐appropriating(public)spacethroughsocialmobilizationandsocio‐politicalaction
• The(re)movingofboundariesshouldalsobetakenliterally:
Space(spatialforms,boundaries,reconfigurations,networks,…)andPlace(localidentityrebuilding,defragmentationofurbanspace,…)areoutcomesofsocialinnovationprocessesorstrategies. VeryoftenPlaceandSpaceareattheheartofthesocialinnovationstrategiesthemselves:neighbourhoodcooperation,neighbourhooddevelopmentagencieswithaspatialintegrationagenda(e.g.spatialconnectionofhousingandpublicspacefunctions),collectivedecision‐makingonspatialityofgovernancedynamics,etc. Placeandwiderspatialrelationsshouldbeconsideredtogether:
‐alternativesupplychainsasspacesofsocialinnovationnetworkinglocalcommunitiestakingpartinsocialandsolidaryeconomy
‐microcreditcommunitiesworkbestwhenaccompaniedwithsocialinnovationinlocalandsupra‐localgovernanceofcreditinstitutions
! TheECholdsarichportfolioofgoodpracticeinSI(‘best’practiceonlyexistsinparadise,ornoteventhere):UrbanI,LEADER,adiversityofCommunityInitiatives,ProfessionalTraining,Co‐learningnetworksinvariouspolicyfields,…
! ButitincreasinglygoeswrongwiththeinstitutionalleverageofSI:liberalizationofmarketsforpublicservicesleadstolossofquality,compressionofinnovativeopportunitiesandfurtherexclusionofdeprivedcitizens
! LearningthroughKATARSIS?
Policyopportunities
TypeofSocialInnovation
“Scale”
“Finalité” Governance Institutionalleverage
Neighbourhood(SINGOCOMbook)
Olinda:socialeconomy,emancipation
Self‐managementandwider‐areanetworking
LegalchangesSupportnetworks
City Lawaetzstiftung:projectdevelopmentconsultant
ButalsoDistrictAgencyconnectingtoHamburgurbanpolicygovernance
Goodpracticeproliferator‘Connector’withEuropeaninstitutions
Region NegotiateddevelopmentagendaforRegion(SocialRegion)
SociallyInnovativeRegion
Networkofsociallyinnovativeinstitutions
Policyopportunities(Examples)
http://katarsis.ncl.ac.uk/
http://www.socialpolis.eu/
http://users.skynet.be/frank.moulaert/singocom/
• FrankMoulaertetJacquesNussbaumer(2008)Lalogiquesocialedudéveloppementterritorial.Pressesdel’UniversitéduQuébec
• DianaMacCallum,FrankMoulaert,JeanHillierandSerenaVicarieds.(2009)SocialInnovationandTerritorialDevelopment.Ashgate
• SerenaVicariandFrankMoulaerteds.(2009)Ri‐GenerarelaCittà.Pratichediinnovazionesocialenellecittàeuropee.IlMulino.
References