This book explores how the State can play a role as an enabler of
citizens-led social innovations, to accelerate the shift to sustainable
and socially just lifestyles.
To meet the twin challenges of environmental degradation and the rise of
inequalities, societal transformation is urgent. Most theories of social
change focus either on the role of the State, on the magic of the
market, or on the power of technological innovation. This book explores
instead how local communities, given the freedom to experiment, can
design solutions that can have a transformative impact. Change cannot
rely only on central ordering by government, nor on corporations
suddenly acting as responsible citizens. Societal transformation, at the
speed and scope required, also should be based on the reconstitution of
social capital, and on new forms of democracy emerging from collective
action at the local level. The State matters of course, for the
provision of both public services and of social protection, and to
discipline the market, but it should also act as an enabler of
citizen-led experimentation, and it should set up an institutional
apparatus to ensure that collective learning spreads across
jurisdictions. Corporations themselves can ensure that society taps the
full potential of citizens-led social innovations: they can put their
know-how, their access to finance, and their control of logistical
chains in the service of such innovations, rather than focusing on
shaping consumers' tastes or even adapting to consumers' shifting
expectations. With this aim in mind, this book provides empirical
evidence of how social innovations, typically developed within "niches",
initially at a relatively small scale, can have society-wide impacts. It
also examines the nature of the activism deployed by social innovators,
and the emergence of a "do-it-yourself" form of democracy.
This book will appeal to all those interested in driving societal change
and social innovation to ensure a sustainable and socially just future
for all.
