The current issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research deals with several aspects of social innovation. Innovation is by no means uncontested, or, as Merton would refer to it, “anomy” leading to deviant processes (Merton Citation1938). Social innovation challenges traditional organization, institutional processes, power structures and gender relations. It impacts on society, economy and policies. Hence, social innovation will result in vested interests.
What causes social innovation? Heiko Prange-Gstöhl points at the problem of trust and distrust in European institutions, policies and societies. In democratic systems, distrust is normally institutionalized by a set of rules and procedures. However, trust ensures a sufficient level of compliance. Distrust, like conflicts, can lead to dysfunction of the social, economic and political system, but can become functional as far-reaching catalyst for social innovation as well. Based on an analysis of the consequences of gradual erosion of trust in research and innovation, Prange-Gstöhl argues that distrust impacts on the increased understanding of science ethics, on the responsibility of actors, the transparency of the research process, civic participation and the (self-)regulation of the research system.
What are the tools of social innovation? Thorvald Grand and Nadia von Jacobi underline the power of language institution, speech-acting and constructed narratives. The speech-act creates new social and institutional facts and even defines the concept of social innovation. The authors hence look at how and when speech-acts constitute social innovation, and how power structures unfold within these.
What role does the gender dimension have in social innovation? Malin Lindberg, Lena Forsberg and Helena Karlberg propose a theoretical framework for the social and gender dimension of innovation. To state their case the authors use the example of the Swedish network for the professional promotion of a woman called Magma. As networks facilitate mutual support and inspire the ideas and aspirations of the participants, networks are considered to be the relevant driver for social innovation. Using qualitative methods and in-depth data, Magma allows for an inclusive and multidimensional analysis of societal and organizational change with particular emphasis on gender aspects.
Are social innovations “smart”? The concept of “smart cities” has gained broad popularity in recent years and is understood as a major innovative concept for urban development. Lisanne de Wijs, Patrick Witte and Stan Geertman challenge this concept. They point at the gap between the theoretical development of the concept and its practical implementation. As example the authors use on-going transformations like the modernization of the railway station areas in European and urban regions. Their findings show that implementation of the smart city concept has not yet reached sufficient levels due to the lack of acceptance and the insufficient use of the expertise from the stakeholders, and suffers from institutional and competitive constraints.
Where does social innovation happen? Bosworth et al. look at the social innovations in European local rural development initiatives. In order to understand meaning and scope of rural innovations the authors start from the analysis of local challenges. Looking at earlier research of community-led local development initiatives in rural areas, the authors propose a Schumpeterian approach: innovations emerge from new constellations of resources that produce positive outcomes. The integration of local actors is key for the success of social innovations on the local level.
What drives innovation on the firm level? Stefan Kirchner analyzes the relation between innovation and institutional and organizational structures. Based on a telephone survey of 988 German firms he shows the link between institutional structures, innovative capability profiles and the outcomes. The analysis shows that there the relation between organizational structures at the firm level and the innovation outcome is not always defined clearly. For instance, other factors like export orientation play an important role as well.
What role does social capital have? Social capital is a cornerstone for social innovation. The definition of social capital is, however, not trivial. Borozan and Funaric propose a complex index for measuring social capital. The index has three dimensions, civism, participation and social trust. The case of Croatia shows significant differences between the Croatian regions. As could be expected, the least developed regions feature the lowest level of social capital. However, social capital in the most developed regions is lagging behind the potential of social capital as well and hence must be seen as a barrier to innovation.
The editorial board hopes that our readership will find the articles in this issue inspiring.
Dorothea Tommasi