Full Description
The 21st century has brought a cornucopia of new knowledge and technologies. But there has been little progress in our ability to solve social problems using social innovation - the deliberate invention of new solutions to meet social needs - across the globe.
Geoff Mulgan is a pioneer in the global field of social innovation. Building on his experience advising international governments, businesses and foundations, he explains how it provides answers to today's global social, economic and sustainability issues. He argues for matching R&D in technology and science with a socially focused R&D and harnessing creative imagination on a larger scale than ever before.
Weaving together history, ideas, policy and practice, he shows how social innovation is now coming of age, offering a comprehensive view of what can be done to solve the global social challenges we face.
Contents
Introduction: the great imbalances
I MAKING SENSE OF SOCIAL INNOVATION
What is social innovation and how is it done?
The roots of social innovation and the fragile springs of social generativity
II. CHALLENGES, ROADBLOCKS AND SYSTEMS
The political context for social innovation now: thesis, antithesis and synthesis
Structural change and new social contracts: how innovation in welfare can address changing needs
Social production systems: what is the best unit for analysis and action?
Place-based systems change: how can governments, funders and civil society achieve more together?
III. SOURCES, IDEAS AND WAYS OF SEEING
The theoretical foundations of social innovation: sources, ideas and future directions
Social science and intelligence design
Observation, interpretation and activism: sociology's role in social change
Understanding how cultures change
A theory of belonging: how do we feel at home?
The interpretation of social change
IV GOOD AND BAD SOCIAL INNOVATION
Know Your Impact (and in praise of better borrowing)
The evolution of measures that matter: how do we know if social innovation is working?
Good and bad innovation: what theory and practice do we need to distinguish them?
V SOCIAL INNOVATION AND THE FUTURE
Social innovation in the 2020s
Thinking about the future
VI FRESH THINKING
