Social Innovation and Agency

This chapter provides empirical insights of agency and empowerment in social innovation across Europe. We apply portions of the theoretical framework developed in CrESSI to investigate whether social innovation is potentially able to reduce the marginalization of specific groups. We depart from the hypothesis that social innovation enhances participants’ agency and test this through the collection of primary data. Our investigation is based on a mixed-method strategy combining qualitative interviews with social innovators, focus groups, and surveys to which beneficiaries and control groups respond. The case studies comprise Solidarity Purchasing Groups in Italy, interest communities that fight for decentralized drinking-water supply and wastewater removal in Germany, and complementary currencies in The Netherlands. Our results suggest that social innovation produces mainly intangible effects by modifying knowledge and social ties, which tend to improve the agency of participants.