The current crisis confirmed that highly financialized regimes of accumulation are extremely crisis-prone. Most of the literature on financialization is focused on the economies of the centre. This paper analyses the peculiarities of financialization in the periphery, which is characterized by a high degree of extraversion and/or by considerable socio-economic heterogeneity. The theory of regulation permits analysis of different forms of financialization and the social dynamics linked with them. In contrast to Keynesian approaches, the state, international organizations and social forces shaping norms and policies are an explicit part of the theory. This allows for looking at policy-making within the analysis. Such an analysis enables us to explain policy changes (or lack of them) that are crucial for the processes of financialization and de-financialization in the periphery.

This article focuses on the identification and role of social innovation in urban development. The aim is to further the understanding of the contradictory relationship between state and civil society, using a thorough analysis of the process of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul-the most southern state of Brazil. The first section spells out four different concepts of the relationship between state and civil society and their implications for social innovation. In the second section, these popular movements are shown to be embedded in the historically rooted structure of patrimonialism and capitalism in Brazil. The third section provides an historical analysis of Brazilian popular movements which represent new key actors in civil society. The fourth section offers a detailed description of the process of the participatory budget. In the final section, conclusions are drawn about social innovation in local politics, focusing on the empowering experiments with new public and democratic forms of the local state accessible to civil society and its interests.

This article aims at understanding local capabilities for empowerment, dealing with the potential for progressive political movements at the local level. Applying an analytical approach to urban governance that is sensitive to path, context and scale, this article discusses participatory governance in Porto Alegre, the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul, the most southern state of Brazil. Porto Alegre's participatory budget is an international best practice model of urban governance. In recent years it has been referred to as an exemplar of pro‐poor participatory governance and has been adopted by many other cities and international organisations. In this article we give special emphasis to recent transformations which we characterise as a change from a radical democratisation project towards a model of consensual governance. The former conception – linked to the administration of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (1989–2004) – tended to be a project of social transformation where conflicts were dealt with openly and democratically and the local level was treated as a space of experimentation for political up‐scaling projects. Its implementation led to remarkable social progress. The latter conception – implemented by the new mayor after 2005 – has stronger links to mainstream concepts of good governance, focusing on consensual arrangements and private–public partnerships.

This chapter discusses the potential of social innovations as effective policies and actions to reduce poverty. Social innovations are driven by an unconventional mix of actors and apply multidimensional approaches to respond to social needs that are not adequately met by macro-level welfare policies. The chapter first gives a brief overview of the history of social innovation as an academic concept and an important concept in current European policies to combat poverty. It then turns to the implications of adopting a social innovation perspective for our understanding of poverty. We stress the multidimensional and relational character of poverty, highlight the importance of place-based developments and their multilevel governances, and point out the crucial role of participation and empowerment. Finally, we present preliminary lessons for anti-poverty strategies based on our extensive case-study analysis, stressing the important link to broader strategies to foster social cohesion, the value of bottom-linked approaches, and the importance of collective empowerment.

This article aims at broadening the scope of global and regional social policy studies to include the ‘Global South’. A strategic-relational approach, based on a combination of the ASID framework with a historical-institutionalist approach to social and distributional policies, serves as point of departure. In the final section, the theoretical reflections are exemplified by an empirical case study of Brazil’s socioeconomic development and the recent evolution of conditional cash transfers (CCTs). It is argued that considering the normative project of radical reformist practice, ‘best practice’ prescriptions are to be critically reviewed, considering diverse discursive and institutional legacies.