Local Social Innovation to Combat Poverty and Exclusion

“In today’s welfare states, poverty remains a largely intractable problem for policy makers and a persistent reality for many citizens. This book critically assesses the potential of social innovation. The book successfully paves the way for different policy paradigms – social protection, social investment and social innovation – to speak to each other. Against the background of the major challenges we face, this is an important, and even necessary, task.” Bea Cantillon, Universiteit Antwerpen

“This book is a milestone in the experimental world of social innovation, the micro-governance of social innovation and the debate on practices of future democracy.” Frank Moulaert, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

"This interdisciplinary volume sheds important new light on the governance challenges facing social innovations in Europe and Brazil. Participatory bottom-up politics empowers excluded citizens, satisfies needs, and improves public programs.” Hilary Silver, Georgetown University and Brown University

“Theoretically strong with interesting case studies based on excellent European research.” Enzo Mingione, Università di Milano-Bicocca

Stijn Oosterlynck is Associate Professor in Urban Sociology at the University of Antwerp, Sociology Department. He teaches courses on urban studies, poverty and social inequality. His research is concerned with local social innovation and welfare state restructuring, the political sociology of urban development, urban renewal and community building and new forms of solidarity in diversity.

Andreas Novy is Associate Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria). He is currently head of the institute of Multi-Level Governance and Development and president of the International Karl Polanyi Society (IKPS). His research focuses on urban development, social innovation and transdisciplinarity.

Yuri Kazepov is Professor of International Urban Sociology and Compared Welfare Systems at the University of Vienna (Austria) from March 2015. His fields of interest are urban governance, citizenship and urban quality of life, social policies in comparative perspective.

Governing Local Social Innovations against Poverty across Europe ~ Stijn Oosterlynck, Yuri Kazepov and Andreas Novy

The Historical Trajectory of Social Innovation in the European Union ~ Gert Verschraegen, Stijn Oosterlynck, Sebastiano Sabato and Andreas Novy

On Elephants, Butterflies and Lions: Social Protection, Innovation and Investment ~ Yuri Kazepov, Tatiana Saruis, Fabio Colombo

Modalities of Governing the Welfare Mix ~ Stijn Oosterlynck and Pieter Cools

The Multi-scalar Puzzle of Social Innovation ~ Yuri Kazepov, Fabio Colombo, Tatiana Saruis

Contradictory Dynamics of Empowerment in Social Innovation Initiatives ~ Stijn Oosterlynck, Andreas Novy, Bernhard Leubolt and Carla Weinzierl

Negotiating Diversity and Equality ~ Andreas Novy and Carla Weinzierl

Knowledge for Social Innovation ~ Andreas Novy, Pieter Cools, Gert Verschraegen and Carla Weinzierl

Consolidating Social Innovation ~ Yuri Kazepov, Tatiana Saruis and Fabio Colombo

Conclusion: Local Social Innovation and Welfare Reform ~ Stijn Oosterlynck, Andreas Novy and Yuri Kazepov