Abstract
The world is going through major turmoils. While the strength of the financial crisis and the resulting economic recession have downgraded climate change and the energy crisis to issues of secondary concerns, there is every reason to assume that so-called developed countries will suffer severely from the current unique accumulation of public debt. Although managers of financial markets try to spread the image of a return to normality, it would be short-sighted to believe that business as usual will be sustainable. At this conjuncture we need new concepts and new practices to react to a changing world. Therefore, publications dedicated to social innovations are highly welcome. This book, edited by Drewe, Klein and Hulsbergen, deals with one domain of innovative practice; urban revitalization.
Chapter 1 sets the task of social innovation research as a practice of social experimentation, trying to ‘solve social problems’ and ‘improve the quality of life’ (p. 23). The ‘social construction of innovation’ (p. 25), as presented in this book, is taking place at the interface of state and civil society. While civil society often inspires initiatives, it is the state that has to finance a social experiment (p. 24). As examples given for social innovations in the first part, Harrisson cites ‘partnership between employers and unions, social housing, community kitchen, community-enterprise services, voluntary associations and co-operatives’ (p. 51). Most of the presented cases deal with this set of initiatives. Further theoretical elements given in the first part of the book are reflections on the relationship between social innovation theory and the innovative milieu approach (chapter 2), a neo-institutional approach (chapter 3) and proposals for a more ‘agile’ state based on simplifying state regulations and making them more flexible (chapter 4). Matteaccioli (chapter 2) tries to mobilize the concept of innovative milieu for a better understanding of the cultural dimension in urban regeneration. For Harrisson (chapter 3), changing society implies the transformation of the institutional setting of rules, norms and knowledge (p. 61). Mierop (chapter 4) correctly criticizes the state of spatial development in The Netherlands’ policies and proposes new public management, elaborated by Osborne and Gaebler nearly 20 years ago and ‘key principles for result-oriented collaboration’ for Bill Clinton and Al Gore during their administration (p. 67), as an alternative. The rhetoric of this text, based on eliminating barriers and ‘increasing flexibility in the public sector seems strange against the background of the current financial disaster co-caused by the financial deregulations of the above cited administration. Chapter 5 by de Muro et al. reflects on strategies of combating poverty in Europe and the developing world, thereby showing the importance of global networking and the strength of a conceptualization of social innovation as multidimensional and multi-scalar.
The second part of the book is dedicated to case studies. The examples vary. Klein et al. describe local dynamics in Montreal to build a broad consensus for community-oriented economic policies. Roberts depicts a successful strategy of sustainable community-building in Eldonian Village, one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in Liverpool. Drewe offers a systematic overview of the URBAN Initiative of bottom-up partnership in the EU. All case studies aim to ‘apply creative methods to improve the quality of life of deprived collectivities by the implication of civil society based local actors’ (p. 252). The Mondragón experience of a specific triple helix (university, industry, government) in the context of a strong local cooperative movement in the Spanish Basque region (chapter 14) is a rich description of the potential and problems of knowledge transfer that tries to promote a solidarity economy in the capitalist world economy. Together with the case study on Montreal (chapter 6) it dwells on economic prerequisites for integrated area development. These are important contributions to understanding the potential of social innovations to counter the current crisis. They enrich our understanding of a crucial aspect of local development that deserves more attention in future research. The diversity of the examples presented shows the vivid activities going on all over the world, united by a joint approach to integrated area development that is context sensitive and avoiding attempts at identifying ‘a royal road to social innovation’ (p. 251). These considerations are part of the closing chapter of the book, written by the editors who summarize the key ingredients of successful social innovations (pp. 251–252).
Based on this short overview of the content of this inspiring book, I limit myself to one argument of crucial importance for future research on social innovation in general, especially in urban regeneration. While the importance of power relationships is stressed at the beginning (p. 23), the case studies lack a systematic reflection on local and multi-scalar relations of power. The case studies have difficulties in dealing with power in at least two respects.
Firstly, the editors correctly emphasize that persistent problems like poverty, inequality and social exclusion need new ideas and social innovations, especially as in the very near future, these problems will be aggravated by the emergent problems posed by diverse, multidimensional and global crises, impeding solutions based on implementing ‘more of the same’. But how do the cases studies presented contribute to attenuating or overcome these problems? Women and men can make history and geography – a fact beautifully demonstrated in diverse cases in this book – but they do it under circumstances that they have not chosen; and this is not sufficiently highlighted in the cases study narratives. The studies have to take the structural context into consideration. Thus, battling with the digital divide in Latin America consists not only in grassroots adaptations, as described by Fernández-Maldonado (chapter 10), but has to be related to the battle against ruthless privatizations and the political parties that are the local brokers of corporate capitalism. Social innovations take place in a context that is conflict ridden and hierarchical. Actors, engaged in changing these structures, have to take part in a collective effort to change power relations.
In this respect, the study of highly creative networking for human development in Rome describes a social innovation that should be taken up by municipalities all over the rich countries in a process of ‘cross-learning’ (p. 99). However, a key contextual prerequisite for those interested in transferring this experience is not stressed: that is, support by the respective political forces and the local state that in general has to finance social experiments (p. 24). Neither do we learn more systematically about the specific left-wing coalition that was decisive for financing ‘Combat Poverty’ nor the internal contradictions that led to its recent electoral defeat by right-wing nationalists and most probably the end of this social innovation. Naming the adversary and stressing the need of a coherent power strategy are important additional ingredients that future case studies should aim at integrating, because, as Fontan et al. stress, social innovation is ‘just as social as it is political’ (p. 23).
Taking the eight ‘ingredients’ (p. 251–252) presented by the editors in the concluding chapter as a starting point, a scale-sensitive approach is needed to depict the diverse forms whereby local agency influences and is influenced by consolidated structures of politico-economic power. Part of the answer is given by Fontan et al. who propose that ‘the territory mediates and structures arrangements of production actors, organizations and decision makers (p. 17) in line with the approach of integrated area development that has inspired some of the actors described in the book. But this is only one ingredient in urban revitalization. Other ingredients relate to the systemic instability caused by real estate development strongly linked to finance capital or political regulations that incite competition between places instead of fostering cross-regional learning processes. What will be the consequence of the current accumulation of public debt on public investment in urban revitalization? Which groups and territories will pay the bill for current subsidies for banks and corporations? What about the environmental efforts towards sustainable territorial development, a topic that seems to have vanished from public concern? All these structural factors influencing integrated approaches from below have to be more systematically taken into account in research to further increase the effectiveness in practice of these emerging socially creative strategies to create a broad diversity of sustainable communities – as described by Roberts in his case study on Liverpool – based on a joint vision of their respective places based on cooperation and learning (p. 258).
Secondly, some of the texts are written by individuals who are involved – and are sometimes even key actors – in the cases described. This poses problems for the relationship of theory and practice. While they overcome the subject-object divide and produce knowledge that is not based only on analytical concepts but inspired in experience, they are confronted with another sort of problem: how can we tell a consistent story without revealing the hidden information that crucially empowered an initiative? The authors of some of the texts have tried to do exactly this and they have to be applauded for their effort. A very interesting text by Nasrallah and Amin on Jerusalem is an example of self-critical reflection on the case of a Palestinian and Israeli group of planners who tried to elaborate a joint vision for this divided city. It shows how, with perseverance and courage, they have adapted their procedure in a constant reflection of recent steps, resulting in ever new strategies. Less dramatic, but of the same sort, are contributions such as the one on minority integration by voluntary mobilization in The Netherlands by Hulsbergen.
Most of the other authors have at least an affinity with the respective socially creative initiatives. This engaged, transdisciplinary type of research is highly commended. However, it poses problems when writing the experiences down, as power relations are never abstract. A crucial element to understand a certain context is the naming, not only the proponents, but also of those opposing an initiative; the bureaucrats who make life difficult for an initiative as well as those who use their informal power to obtain resources that would otherwise not be accessible. These, often crucial micro-political elements of the success or failure of initiatives resulting from their relation to political, economic and cultural power-holders are, in general, not revealed in the case studies, and for good reason, as most of the initiatives remain in the same politico-economic contexts after the publication of the text. We have to be realistic that decisive knowledge of counter hegemonic strategies, micro-politics, networking and power games of organizational outflanking will continue to remain tacit – with good cause. It remains a crucial skill of story-telling to explain how the case studies can touch on these issues without becoming political naive and expose effective progressive strategies. But this will never avoid the fact that real life and concrete experiences remain more colourful than academic texts can reproduce – a vivid invitation for practical involvement as well as academic humility.