Abstract
Defined as the design, implementation and diffusion of new social practice and public policies to promote change in the social organisation of people to achieve economic ends (Ruíz Viñals, 2013: 4)
or as the process of collective idea generation, selection and implementation by people who participate collaboratively to meet social challenges … owned by people who work together in pursuing social goals that may – but need not – service other organisational, technical, commercial or scientific goals (Dawson and Daniel, 2010: 16),
social innovation (SI) can be conceptualized largely as a societal and/or team process distinct from, but potentially related to, other forms of innovation. Hence, the relational aspects of SI and its wider links with innovation are emphasized in this book.
This edited book is a new volume bringing together various contributions on SI and is organized into four parts – concepts of SI (Part I, Chapters 1 and 2), SI in non-profits (Part II, Chapters 3–5), SI’s Internet use (Part III, Chapters 6–8) and social entrepreneurship (Part IV, Chapters 9–11) – by taking a multidisciplinary approach to the topic. In terms of strengths, the book has wide geographical, conceptual and disciplinary spreads. Lacunae include Maple and Murdock’s chapter on fundraising which seems to be misplaced and fails to engage with SI literature or theory (a problem in some other chapters too). The editors rightly highlight the major research gap concerning, and indeed ‘complex relationship’ between, innovation and social policy (and specifically in terms of innovative solutions to social problems) that their volume seeks to bridge. Ruíz Viñals (pp. 3–11), in particular, points out the role of actors and actors and actions (practice), processes (e.g. citizenship and technical innovation), networks, social diffusion, and the ‘glocal’ focus of the book.
Part I of the book conceptualizes SI in terms of knowledge being transformed into action (Hochgerner), and technological innovation (Pyka and Hanusch). Indeed, Hochgerner’s chapter (p. 13) conceptualizes SI as an ‘extension of the innovation concept itself on the way to a new innovation paradigm’ and not an ‘antithesis to technical and economic innovations’ (p. 13) and applies his 4-i process (idea–invention–implementation–impact) to the idea, as a ‘wider concept of innovation’. This is followed by Pyka and Hanusch’s chapter, with a comparative perspective of SI and technical innovation, based on Neo-Schumpeterian Economics with its focus on the industrial, financial and public sectors. Given its reliance upon classical literature and lack of engagement with recent SI literature and theory, this is a weaker chapter. Interestingly, however, the authors suggest that the ‘discovery mechanism of competition is transformed or implemented to the public sector’, which is becoming less bureaucratic and provides a context for some creativity.
Part II (Palankai, Maple and Murdock, Teixeira Santos), which considers non-profit organizations, explores knowledge as a resource, fundraising and their outcomes, and provides a successful exemplar (the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) – the Holy Houses of Mary of Lisbon). Palankai’s chapter does not engage with the SI literature, nor does that by Maple and Murdock. Nonetheless, Palankai’s provides a fascinating account of non-profits, in the context of the ‘rapid opening of [the] economies’ of Central and Eastern European countries post-1989 and their European Union (EU) membership. Teixeira Santos’ chapter on the SCML, which was established in 1498, subsequently funded through gambling (a lottery) and then nationalized, highlights how a socially innovative organization can change over time.
The final two parts of the book investigate SI and its relationship with the Internet and social entrepreneurship, respectively. Part III (Fondevila, Sancho, Kuusisto et al.), focusing on information and communication technology, examines the use of the Internet in SI with a particular emphasis upon ‘social cloud innovation’, Web 2.0 and public data access. For example, Kuusisto et al.’s chapter, grounded in a clear conceptualization of SI, examines SI in public data by non-governmental entities in the United Kingdom and Finland, highlighting how open access, rather than ‘owned’, data can be utilized in a socially innovative manner. Part IV (Kengyel, Rubalcaba et al., Wilczynski) takes a more explicit look at SI in the context of social entrepreneurship with a particular emphasis on EU cohesion policy, services and financial solidarity (such as employment). Finally, and of particular interest to the International Small Business Journal readership, Kengyel’s chapter focuses on Hungary and how European funds can be used to finance the social economy and, therefore, SI. Rubalcaba et al. examine SI and networks in services, while Wilczynski’s chapter explores the issue of financial sustainability in the EU.
Parra Rodríguez’s concluding chapter reconceptualizes SI by focusing on its relationship to innovation more generally in addition to social transformation. She then focuses on different organizational contexts as well as the features and processes of SI (the latter being intellectual, social and instrumental processes). This chapter, however, is insufficiently integrative and could have synthesized some of the key points from other chapters in the volume.
Despite its initial promise and some gems, due to its lack of engagement with the SI literature and a conclusion which falls rather flat, the book is somewhat disappointing. However, while the book does not really address the extent to which SI is relevant in a small or medium enterprise context, the social enterprise section is informative in this regard. Furthermore, the book has a completely European focus (indeed, four chapters from Iberia, three from Central and Eastern Europe, two from Germanic countries, one from the United Kingdom and one from Finland) and addresses different types of organizations, including non-profits and social enterprises. Nevertheless, the book is a welcome starting point for a wider consideration of SI in various contexts and will hopefully spark interest in further more academically rigorous, focused research into this topic.