Radical social innovation Julie Froud and Karel

Transcript:Radical social innovation Julie Froud and Karel:
Radical social innovation Julie Froud and Karel Williams, CRESC and Alliance MBS Argument: against 'feel good' usage and for radical practice of social innovation (SI) Against 'feel good' usage where SI is a way of capturing the future + social benefits; mainstream political cross reading from economist’s concept of tech innovation Radical push back against the undisclosed in feel good : (a) the value of maintenance; (b) the dark side eg much financial innovation; (c) formatting without political participation For Radical SI as a different practice = 'Unger plus' i.e. requiring (a) political struggle + mobilisation (b) an experimental programme plus (c) financially + ecologically viable (1) The mainstream politically acceptable 'feel good' concept of social innovation 'Feel good' social innovation A political read across from the economists’ concept of technical innovation as (by its nature) a good thing: boosts productivity, spreads via market, ex post social benefit outweighs disruption eg autos replacing buggies Feel good SI meets ‘unmet needs’/softening the edges of markets; non-govt/ non-market solutions to problems = avoids confronting problems of either; worthy examples of add-ons: empowerment (e.g. fair trade) or para-provision (e.g. micro-finance). NB/ add-on = non-disruptive Political currency + circulation; rightist cover for retreat of government (e.g. Bloomberg in NY); centrist sweetener e.g. EU (2010) view that SI complements the Lisbon Agenda on knowledge economy; business appeal via Porter and Harvard Business Review world of ‘shared value’ embedding a social mission in corporate culture (2) Radical push back by focusing on what’s undisclosed in mainstream usage Radical push back (1) the value of maintenance The importance of keeping things going instead of chasing novelty: especially given the non economy of domestic reproduction + the foundational economy of security and welfare critical goods and services consumed by everybody e.g. health and adult care, pipe and cable utilities, schooling Financialised capitalism is bad at defending and maintaining many basics e.g. the condition of electricity generation and distribution in the US or UK, where diesel farms are contracted to provide 650mw of back-up (Guardian 11 dec 2015) Maintenance is more than repair + Oakeshottian conservatism; it is not the opposite of innovation. As in The Leopard, very often things have to change so they can stay the same: the test = outcomes + values, not process; and the product = participation, minimum standards etc. Radical push back (2) the dark side of innovation Innovation is not always the