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Paradoxes of Transformative Social Innovation: From Critical Awareness towards Strategies of Inquiry
Paradoxes of Transformative Social Innovation: From Critical Awareness towards Strategies of Inquiry
[journal article]
Abstract Society is transforming through a whirlpool of innovations. This includes technological as well as social innovations, i.e. changes in social relations involving new ways of doing, organizing, framing and knowing. Especially the potentials for transformative social innovation (TSI) are gaining the i... view more
Society is transforming through a whirlpool of innovations. This includes technological as well as social innovations, i.e. changes in social relations involving new ways of doing, organizing, framing and knowing. Especially the potentials for transformative social innovation (TSI) are gaining the interest of progressive political actors and critical scholars. Occurring in the form of new modes of governance and alternative ways of working and living together, TSI involves the challenging, altering or replacing of dominant institutions. As documented in various strands of critical social inquiry and innovation research, TSI praxis is pervaded with contradictions, anomalies and paradoxes. This methodological contribution addresses the challenge that tends to remain: How to elaborate this general critical awareness into more operational 'strategies of inquiry'? The paper discusses paradoxes of a) system reproduction, b) temporality, and c) reality construction. Identifying distinct kinds of contradictions and distinct empirical phenomena, this differentiation also calls attention to the associated differences between realist, processual and constructivist research philosophies. Gathering the empirical analyses, theoretical interpretations and methodological advances that have been made on these paradoxes, this contribution opens up the scope for critical and practically relevant innovation research: It is important to bridge the divide between rigorous but sterile methodological know-how, and critical-reflexive theorizing that lacks operational insights.... view less
Keywords
innovation; methodology; social change; social relations; social research; innovation research
Classification
Sociology of Science, Sociology of Technology, Research on Science and Technology
Free Keywords
social innovation; societal transformation; paradoxes; critical analysis
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 35-62
Journal
NOvation - Critical Studies of Innovation (2022) 4
Issue topic
Critical perspectives in social innovation, social enterprise and/or the social solidarity economy
ISSN
2562-7147
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0