Creating Economic Space for Social Innovation

This book draws upon economic and sociological theory to provide a comprehensive discussion of economic space for social innovation, addressing especially marginalized groups and the long-term projects, programmes, and policies that have emerged and evolved within and across European states. It approaches the explanatory and normative questions raised by this topic via a novel approach: the Extended Social Grid Model (ESGM). Taking inspiration from the fields of economic sociology and ethics, this model shows that social innovation processes must be structural, and require change in power relations, if marginalization is to be effectively dealt with via social innovation. Part I of the book sets out the ESGM, including an exposition on the model along with background chapters on innovation, power and marginalization, ethics and social innovation, and empirical methods. Part II explores the model with a focus on social innovation trajectories of social housing, drinking water provision, employment, education, and food provision. It also explores the operationalization of the model with a view to agency and empowerment, as well as social innovation policy in Europe and the use of social impact bonds as a tool for financing social innovation. Part III revisits the ESGM and considers the explanatory adequacy and fruitfulness of the model for innovation research and for theorizing social innovation, addressing questions on the role and limitations of participation in social innovation for the marginalized, the role of capital for creating economic space for capabilities, and how we can approach the social impact of social innovation. This collection of essays presents a diverse range of perspectives on understanding and addressing the key issue of marginalization, and offers key recommendations for policy makers engaging with social innovation across the European Union and beyond.

Alex Nicholls is Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. He is also a Tutorial Fellow and Member of the Governing Body at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, and in 2004 he was the first staff member of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. He has published six books and over a hundred papers, working papers, book chapters, and articles, including seven papers in Financial Times Top 30 journals. He has been the General Editor of the Skoll Working Papers Series and is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship. Rafael Ziegler coordinates the Social Entrepreneurship Research Group GETIDOS at the University of Greifswald and the Institute for Ecological Economic Research in Berlin. He is the Editor of An Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship: Voices,Preconditions, Contexts (Edward Elgar 2009). His focus is on social innovation in relation to water, justice, and sustainability.