Abstract
Paraphrasing the famous quote from Schumpeter, who initially explained innovation as a ‘new combination of production factors’, social innovation can be defined as a new combination of social practices. In order to qualify as social innovations, such combinations or the creation and implementation of absolutely new practices must be intentional, aiming at solving a social issue, and produce effects in terms of novel social facts. Implementation and impact distinguish social innovations from social ideas. Social objectives and rationales, rather than economic ones, make them differentiable from business-driven innovations. However, social innovations take place in business as well as in the public sector and civil society. From a particular sociological point of view, social innovations are becoming of increasing relevance not only because of the frequently mentioned so-called ‘Grand Challenges’ the knowledge society faces in the twenty-first century. On the one hand, re-integration of the most effective economy ever is on the agenda in society, aiming at the ‘management of abundance’. On the other, even the nexus between man-made social systems and human nature may need re-configuration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cf. e.g. EUROSTAT ‘Mortality and life expectancy statistics’: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Mortality_and_life_expectancy_statistics .
- 2.
Capgemini ‘The World Wealth Report 2012’: http://www.capgemini.com/services-and-solutions/by-industry/financial-services/solutions/wealth/worldwealthreport/.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
The first phrase used by Schumpeter (2006) before adopting the term innovation.
- 8.
- 9.
A social fact is ‘any more or less laid down form of action with the capacity to exert an external compulsion on the individual; or also generally appearing in the field of a given society and possessing a life of its own, independent of its individual expressions’ (translated from Durkheim 1984, p. 5).
- 10.
‘Whereas History and Anthropology know of different economic forms, most of which contain the setting up of markets, they do not know of any economy before ours that was even remotely so dominated and controlled by markets’ (translated from Polanyi 1978, p. 72).
- 11.
[The evolution of] ‘human beings … repeatedly shows forks and sprouting branches. A fork stands for the opening of a new path, a new work method …. I term such a change in direction from the previously customary practice a basic innovation. Technological basic innovations create new trades or branches of industry, non-technological basic innovations open up new fields of activity in the sphere of culture, in public administration and in social services etc. Basic innovations create new terrain for human activity’ (translated from Mensch 1975, p. 56f).
- 12.
Instead of Parsons’ structural category ‘collective‘, I choose the concept of ‘relations’, for Parsons (1976, p. 181) is also primarily concerned with interactions (based on expectations, achievements, rights and duties) that become effective in a collective.
- 13.
‘While many of our measures are directed at ascertaining short-run movements in the level of market activity, the Commission considers that the time has come to make a clear move from measuring production to measuring welfare, to try to close the gap between our measures of economic performance and widespread perceptions of well-being.’ Stiglitz/Sen/Fitoussi, The Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress Revisited. Reflections and Overview, 63. www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr (accessed on October 26, 2011).
- 14.
References
Aderhold, J. (2010). Probleme mit der Unscheinbarkeit sozialer Innovationen in Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft. In J. Howaldt & H. Jacobsen (Eds.), Soziale Innovation. Auf dem Weg zu einem postindustriellen Innovationsparadigma (pp. 109–126). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Bell, D. (1974). The coming of post-industrial society. New York: Harper.
Beniger, J. (1986). The control revolution. Technological and economic origins of the information society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Blasy, C., & Gruber, F. (2011). Zur Messbarkeit sozialer Innovationen. In Zentrum für Soziale Innovation (ed.), Pendeln zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis. ZSI-Beiträge zu sozialen Innovationen (pp. 165–172). Vienna-Berlin: LIT.
Bourdieu, P. (1998). Praktische Vernunft. Zur Theorie des Handelns. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
Business Panel on Future EU Innovation Policy. (2009). Reinvent Europe through innovation. From a knowledge society to an innovation society. Brussels: DG Enterprise.
Castells, M. (1998). End of millennium. The information age. Economy, society and culture (Vol. 3). Malden/Oxford: Blackwell.
Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W., & West, J. (Eds.). (2006). Open innovation. Researching a new paradigm. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Durkheim, E. (1984). Regeln der soziologischen Methode [1895]. Neuwied/Berlin: Luchterhand.
European Commission. (1995). Green Paper on Innovation. http://europa.eu/documents/comm/green_papers/pdf/com95_688_de.pdf
European Commission. (2010). Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative: Innovation Union. http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/innovation-union-communication_en.pdf
Franke, N., von Hippel, E., & Schreier, M. (2006). Finding commercially attractive user innovations. A test of lead user theory. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 23, 301–315.
Gibbons, M., et al. (1994). The new production of knowledge. The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage.
Habermas, J. (2005). Die Zukunft der menschlichen Natur. Auf dem Weg zu einer liberalen Eugenik? Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
Heidenreich, M. (2003). Die Debatte um die Wissensgesellschaft. In Stefan B_schen und Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer (eds.), Wissenschaft in der Wissensgesellschaft. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Hochgerner, J. (1999). Jenseits der großen Transformation. Arbeit, Technik und Wissen in der Informationsgesellschaft. Vienna: Löcker.
Hochgerner, J. (2009). Innovation processes in the dynamics of social change. In J. Loudin & K. Schuch (Eds.), Innovation cultures. Challenge and learning strategy (pp. 17–45). Prague: Filosofia.
Howaldt, J., & Jacobsen, H. (Eds.). (2010). ‘Soziale Innovation. Auf dem Weg zu einem postindustriellen Innovationsparadigma’. Dortmunder Beiträge zur Sozialforschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Hubert, A. et al. (2010). Empowering people, driving change: Social innovation in the European Union. BEPA (Bureau of European Policy Advisers) (Ed.), Brussels. Download (1.9.2011) http://ec.europa.eu/bepa/pdf/publications_pdf/social_innovation.pdf.
Hurrelmann, K. (1990). Einführung in die Sozialisationstheorien. Weinheim/Basel: Beltz.
Kesselring, A. (2009). Social innovation in private companies. An exploratory empirical study. In S. Roth (Ed.), Non-technological and non-economic innovations. Contributions to a theory of robust innovation. Bern: P. Lang.
Kesselring, A., & Leitner, M. (2008). Soziale Innovation in Unternehmen. Study commissioned by Unruhe Privatstiftung. Vienna: ZSI. https://www.zsi.at/object/publication/1444.
Krippner, G. (2005). The financialization of the American economy. Socio-Economic Review, 3(2), 173–208.
Linden, H. (2007). The accidental mind. How brain evolution has given us love, memory, dreams and god. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mensch, G. (1975). Das technologische Patt. Innovationen überwinden die Depression. Frankfurt/M: Fischer.
Meyer, J. (2010). World society, institutional theories, and the actor. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 1–20.
OECD, EUROSTAT. (2005). Oslo manual: Guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data (3rd ed.). Paris: OECD.
Palley, T. (2007). Financialisation. What it is and why it matters. http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_525.pdf. Accessed 10 May 2012.
Parsons, T. (1976). Zur Theorie des Sozialsystems [1951]. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Polanyi, K. (1978). The Great Transformation. Politische und ökonomische Ursprünge von Gesellschaften und Wirtschaftssystemen [1st edition: 1944]. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
Radermacher, F. (2010). Die Zukunft unserer Welt. Navigieren in schwierigem Gelände. Essen: Edition Stifterverband.
Reichwald, R., & Piller, F. (2009). Interaktive Wertschöpfung. Open Innovation, Individualisierung und neue Formen der Arbeitsteilung. Wiesbaden: Gabler Verlag.
Rosted, J., Kjeldsen, C., & Napier. G. (2009). New nature of innovation. Study report to the OECD Committee for Industry, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), jointly funded by the Danish and Finnish governments. Copenhagen: FORA.
Schulmeister, S. (2010). Mitten in der großen Krise. Ein “New Deal”für Europa. Vienna: Picus.
Schumpeter, J. (2005). Kapitalismus, Sozialismus und Demokratie [1st edition: 1942]. Tübingen: UTB.
Schumpeter, J. (2006). Theorie der Wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Eine Untersuchung über Unternehmergewinn, Kapital, Kredit, Zins und den Konjunkturzyklus [reprint of the 1st edition of 1912]. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot.
Stehr, N. (1994). Knowledge societies. London: Sage.
Stichweh, R. (2004). On the Genesis of World Society: Innovations and Mechanisms, Luzern: http://www.unilu.ch/files/26stwworldsoc.pdf. Accessed 10 May 2012.
Weber, M. (2005). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft [1st edition: 1922]. Frankfurt/M: Zweitausendeins.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hochgerner, J. (2012). New Combinations of Social Practices in the Knowledge Society. In: Franz, HW., Hochgerner, J., Howaldt, J. (eds) Challenge Social Innovation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32879-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32879-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32878-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32879-4
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)