Theory development and empirical testing (qualitative and quantitative design) of the relation between marginalization and social innovation
Objective: Understanding economic foundations, measurement approaches, relation to technological innovations, policies and lifecycles of social innovations; recommendations for policies, development of teaching material
The project aims to understand how politics and (civil) society can improve the living conditions and well-being of marginalized populations in the European Union. In an international consortium with universities and research institutes from Oxford (coordination), Budapest, Delft, Greifswald, Pavia, Tampere und Wien, we want to examine how social innovations can address marginalization. Theoretic foundations are Amartya Sen’s capability approach, German sociologist Jens Beckert’s Social Grid Model, and the framework of societal power sources by historic sociologist Michael Mann. The CSI is responsible for the coordination and conduction of several case studies as well as the analysis of life cycles of social innovation.