Social Innovation and the Capability Approach—Introduction to the Special Issue

Innovación social y frugal: ¿de qué estamos hablando?

“…En cuanto a las diferencias, sobresale la importancia que el concepto de innovación social da a la creación de relaciones necesarias para que se produzca dicho tipo de innovación pero también como consecuencia de ella (Chiappero-Martinetti et al, 2017;Murray et al, 2010;van der Have & Rubalcaba, 2016). Las relaciones no son un asunto tan explícito en la conceptualización de la innovación frugal, aunque se reconoce que el nivel de integración local de las empresas 10 y el acceso de emprendedores a redes de información y recursos afectan su habilidad para desarrollar innovaciones para los mercados de la bop (Ernst et al, 2015;Soni & Krishnan, 2014).…”

The social dimension of frugal innovation

“…A debate on what social innovation is and how it should be defined (Chiappero-Martinetti et al, 2017) has raged for several years (e.g., BEPA, 2010). The concept of social innovation has its roots in the social sciences in the 1960s but was not systematically utilised until the 1990s.…”

“…Other definitions are very broad including examples that are not particularly innovative (Hennala, 2011). Chiappero-Martinetti et al (2017) note that no generally agreed-upon definition of social innovation has emerged; instead, there is a range of uses and considerable fluidity and diversity in meanings and interpretations within research and practice. Nicholls and Ziegler (2015) define social innovation as "the development and delivery of new ideas and solutions (products, services, models, modes of provision, processes) at different socio-structural levels that intentionally seek to change power relations and improve human capabilities, as well as the processes via which these solutions are carried out."…”

“…In a bibliometric analysis of the 'coming to be' of social innovation, Ayob et al (2016) identify two contesting streams of research: the first on outcomes and social value production and the second on changes in power relations and new social processes and relations aimed at rebalancing power disparities and economic inequalities. Recently, however, the disagreement seems to have lessened as both the outcome and the process are increasingly emphasised by scholars (Chiappero-Martinetti et al, 2017). For instance, Moulaert et al (2013) stress both changes in power relations and improved human capabilities.…”

“…However, there is a risk that the concept's fluidity and malleability conceal value differences and conflicts of interest (Chiappero-Martinetti et al, 2017). To overcome this danger, Chiappero-Martinetti et al (2017) propose the capability approach that includes an analysis of entangled facts and values (Putnam, 2002) and sheds light on the evaluative dimension of social innovations, their presuppositions and policy consequences, intervention design and attempts at scaling up (Ziegler, 2015). Chiappero-Martinetti et al (2017) claim that the recent increased interest in social innovation may be partly due to the collapse in trust in the status quo since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.…”