Abstract
The debate on social innovation focuses on the local and is widely based on case studies, producing a proliferation of interpretations that make it difficult to conceptualise the phenomenon itself. In this chapter, we analyse social innovation policies in a comparative perspective and we explore the existence of a relationship between the ways of implementing social innovation policies and the welfare regimes of nine European countries. What emerges is a strong relationship between the welfare regime and national and local social innovation agendas that depends on the solidity of national and local welfare infrastructures. This characteristic is, therefore, at risk of turning social innovation into a reinforcing factor of pre-existing historical trends, and the gap between welfare systems would be destined to increase rather than decrease as a consequence of the spread of social innovation as a key policy strategy.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The CO-Cities Report contains the result of a work carried out by the research unit of the “Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi”, coordinated by Professor Christian Iaione, within the research project PRIN 2015—code 2015XYKZPP—“Democratic innovations among collaborative design, active citizenship and Internet governance” coordinated by Prof. Michele Sorice from LUISS Guido Carli.
- 2.
SIC is a community for social innovators across Europe and is a Horizon 2020 Programme funded project, run by a consortium of 12 leading organisations across Europe between February 2016 and 2019.
- 3.
The Social Innovation Index, sponsored by Nippon Foundation, was devised and constructed by an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research team (Intelligence Unit of The Economist) led by Trisha Suresh.
- 4.
The project “Social Innovation: Driving Force for Social Change” (SI-Drive) has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 612870.
- 5.
- 6.
References
Ayob, N., S. Teasdale, and K. Fagan. 2016. How social innovation ‘came to be’: Tracing the evolution of a contested concept. Journal of Social Policy 45 (4): 635–653.
BEPA. (2010). Empowering people, driving change: Social innovation in the European Union. Luxembourg: European Union/Bureau of European Policy Advisers.
Bernardi, M. 2018. Temi guida: innovazione sociale e sharing economy. Il caso milanese. In Sviluppo urbano e politiche per la qualità della vita, ed. G. Nuvolati. Firenze: Firenze University Press.
Blanco, I., and M. León. 2017. Social innovation, reciprocity and contentious politics: Facing the socio-urban crisis in Ciutat Meridiana, Barcelona. Urban Studies 54 (9): 2172–2188.
Blanco, I., R. Gomà, and J. Subirats. 2018. El nuevo municipalismo: derecho a la ciudad y comunes urbanos. Gestión y Análisis de Políticas Públicas 20: 14–28.
Borelli, G., and M. Busacca, eds. 2020. Society and the City: the Dark Sides of Social Innovation. Mimesis International: Milano.
Busacca, M. 2013. Oltre la retorica della Social Innovation. Impresa Sociale 2: 39–54.
———. 2019. Innovazione sociale: Città, politiche e forme di ricostruzione del mercato. Milano: Bruno Mondadori.
———. 2020. Academics are back in town: The city-university relationship in the field of social innovation. SocietàMutamentoPolitica 11 (21): 187–201.
Carvalho, J.M. 2017. Social innovation and entrepreneurship: The case of Porto region. In Entrepreneurship: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications, 850–887. IGI Global.
Copus, A., Berlina, A., Perjo, L., Jungsberg, L., Minoz, Å, and Sigurjonsdottir, H.R. 2016. Territorial Social Innovation in the Nordic Countries and Scotland: A review of the evolution of Social Innovation, and its governance context. Nordregio Working Paper 2.
Cruz, H., R. Martínez Moreno, and I. Blanco. 2017. Crisis, urban segregation and social innovation in Catalonia. PACO 10 (1): 221–245.
Esping-Andersen, G. 1990. The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton University Press.
Esping-Andersen, G., D. Gallie, A. Hemerijck, and J. Myles. 2002. Why we need a new welfare state. USA: Oxford University Press.
Etzkowitz, H., and L. Leydesdorff. 1998. The Triple Helix as a Model for Innovation. Science and Public Policy 25 (3): 195–203.
European Commission. 2014. A map of social enterprises and their eco-systems in Europe. Country Report: France. Bruxels: European Commission.
Faggian, A., M. Partridge, and E.J. Malecki. 2017. Creating an environment for economic growth: creativity, entrepreneurship or human capital? International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 41 (6): 997–1009.
Godin, B 2012. Social innovation: Utopias of innovation from c. 1830 to the present. Project on the intellectual History of innovation. Working Paper No. 11.
Hansson, J., F. Björk, D. Lundborg, and L.E. Olofsson. 2014. An Ecosystem for Social Innovation in Sweden: A strategic research and innovation agenda. Lund: Lund University.
Howaldt, J., C. Kaletka, A. Schröder, and M. Zirngiebl, eds. 2018. Atlas of social innovation: new practices for a better future. Dortmund: Technische Universität Dortmund—ZWE Sozialforschungsstelle.
———, eds. 2019. Atlas of social innovation—2nd Volume: a world of new practices. Oekom: Monaco.
Jenson, J. 2010. Diffusing ideas for after neoliberalism: The social investment perspective in Europe and Latin America. Global Social Policy 10 (1): 59–84.
———. 2015. Social innovation: redesigning the welfare diamond. In New frontiers in social innovation research, ed. A. Nicholls, J. Simon, M. Grabriel, and C. Whelan, 89–106. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kammer, A., J. Niehues, and A. Peichl. 2012. Welfare regimes and welfare state outcomes in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy 22 (5): 455–471.
Kazepov, Y., F. Colombo, and T. Saruis. 2020. The multi-scalar puzzle of social innovation. In Local social innovation to combat poverty and exclusion: a critical appraisal, ed. S. Oosterlynck, A. Novy, and Y. Kazepov. Bristol and Chicago: Policy Press.
LabGov. 2019. Co-cities report.
Marques, P., K. Morgan, and R. Richardson. 2018. Social innovation in question: The theoretical and practical implications of a contested concept. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 36 (3): 496–512.
Martínez Celorrio, X. 2017. La innovación social: orígenes, tendencias y ambivalencias. Sistema. Revista de Ciencias Sociales 247: 61–88.
Moini, G. 2017. L’innovazione sociale: an old neoliberist wine in new bottles? Cartografie sociali. Rivista di sociologia e scienze umane 3: 69–91.
Moulaert, F., F. Martinelli, E. Swyngedouw, and S. Gonzalez. 2005. Towards alternative model (s) of local innovation. Urban studies 42 (11): 1969–1990.
Moulaert, F., D. MacCallum, A. Mehmood, and A. Hamdouch, eds. 2013. The International Handbook On Social Innovation: Collective Action. Social Learning and Transdisciplinary Research: Edward Elgar.
Mulgan, G. 2012. The Theoretical Foundations of Social Innovation. In Social Innovation, ed. A. Nicholls and A. Murdock. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230367098_2.
Oosterlynck, S., A. Novy, and Y. Kazepov, eds. 2020. Local social innovation to combat poverty and exclusion: a critical appraisal. Bristol and Chicago: Policy Press.
Pais, Y., E. Polizzi, and T. Vitale. 2019. Governare l’economia collaborativa per produrre inclusione: attori, strumenti, stili di relazione e problemi di implementazione. In Governare Milano nel nuovo millennio, ed. A. Andreotti. Bologna: il Mulino.
Parente, C. 2016. Social entrepreneurship in Portugal: Intervention and management models in third sector. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 36 (7/8): 531–546.
Pradel-Miquel, M. 2017. Kiezkulturnetz vs. Kreativquartier: Social innovation and economic development in two neighbourhoods of Berlin. City, Culture and Society 8: 13–19.
Purcell, M., and J.C. Brown. 2005. Against the local trap: scale and the study of environment and development. Progress in Development Studies 5 (4): 279–297.
Tajani, C. 2021. Città prossime. Dal quartiere al mondo: Milano e le metropoli globali. Firenze e Milano goWare e Guerini Associati.
The Economist. 2016. Social Innovation Index. London.
Tilly, C. 2001. Mechanisms in political processes. Annual Review of Political Science 4 (1): 21–41.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Busacca, M. (2022). Social Innovation, Welfare Regimes and National/Urban Agendas: Going Outside “the Local Trap” in Social Innovation Studies. In: Gelli, F., Basso, M. (eds) Identifying Models of National Urban Agendas . Comparative Studies of Political Agendas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08388-4_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08388-4_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-08387-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-08388-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)