New Frontiers in Social Innovation Research

This book is open access under a CC BY license. 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.

Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Foreword: The Study of Social Innovation - Theory, Practice and Progress -- Acknowledgements -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction: Dimensions of Social Innovation -- Part I: Researching Social Innovation -- 1 Social Innovations as Drivers of Social Change - Exploring Tarde's Contribution to Social Innovation Theory Building -- 2 At the Root of Change: The History of Social Innovation -- 3 A Relational Database to Understand Social Innovation and Its Impact on Social Transformation -- Part II: Blurring Boundaries and Reconfiguring Relations -- 4 Social Innovation: Redesigning the Welfare Diamond -- 5 Social Innovation for Social Cohesion -- 6 Collaborative Services in Informal Settlements: Social Innovation in a Pacified Favela in Rio de Janeiro -- Part III: Producing Social Innovation through New Forms of Collaboration -- 7 Enhancing Public Innovation through Collaboration, Leadership and New Public Governance -- 8 Seoul City's Social Innovation Strategy: New Models of Communication to Strengthen Citizen Engagement -- 9 Can Collective Intelligence Produce Social Innovation? -- 10 The Usefulness of Networks: A Study of Social Innovation in India -- Conclusion: The Task of the Social Innovation Movement -- Index.