The exploratory approach to identifying the case study material elicited contact with social innovation activities that together demonstrated the type of diverse characterisations I was seeking, and also the range of enabling roles the public sector can perform. These broad characterisations were central to responding to the research questions, which aimed to unseat essentialist perspectives, and therefore within the epistemological framing of the study this aspect resulted in particularly useful outcomes.
For those case studies where it was possible to only interview one person involved with the social innovation assemblage, there were limitations imposed by only having access to a single perspective. This was so for seven of the case
studies, however in two of these two different people from the same organisation were interviewed – and even this small level of triangulation helped to gain better insight. For example, one of the case studies (e-Adept) was also a participant in the program activities of one of the other case studies (Citymart) - and this also became useful for analysis purposes, as between the two cases I was able to draw on three perspectives.
Given the breadth of activity covered it was only possible to explore a small number of the case studies in any depth within this thesis. The process of thinking about characterisations through an ‘open stance’ resulted in the selection of an interesting cluster of four case studies, all of which have been enabled through public sector procurement in some form, for more in-depth analysis. By focusing in on a particular domain of policymaking, I was able to provide a more detailed analysis of the relationships and configurations of public sector enabling support in this group of social innovation assemblages.
As noted in Section 2.31, in the early stages of the study I was drawing on Verweij et al.’s notion of ‘clumsy solutions’ as a starting point for thinking about the governance relationships involved in the case studies. Feedback generated through the ‘user groups’ engaged research activity identified that ‘clumsy solutions’ would be a challenging concept to introduce into existing policy frameworks. To achieve the aim of strengthening the efforts of policymakers, what was needed was language and methods that could sit comfortably within the hierarchical decision-making structures and risk-averse cultures that characterise public sector contexts, whilst also accommodating the multiplicity of influences on and effects of policymaking. As a result of the feedback, as the study progressed I continued to explore other ways of conceptualising and communicating the governance relationships aspect. This led me to the new public governance (NPG) literature (introduced earlier), which was subsequently drawn on for further thinking about public sector roles.
Focusing in on public sector procurement and the adoption of NPG concepts to frame the exploration of governance relationships subsequently became central
to the study. The shifts these developments both required and generated created opportunities to respond to the emergent data, and to incorporate the next iteration of thinking into the more detailed analysis and the overall findings. The ‘user groups’ input research activities also provided other rich data that is drawn on throughout the thesis. The challenges the public sector participants’ experienced when attempting to enable social innovation assemblages were a key component of this, as were the residents and enterprises participants’ perspectives on useful roles for the public sector in enabling social innovation assemblages. For a study with practical aspirations, the reality-checking involvement both groups provided was a vital component.
The focus groups also provided the opportunity to ‘travel with’ the two groups in making sense of the breadth of social innovation assemblages collected, from different countries, and across different policy domains. The process required taking the large and complex data set and interpreting it into the specific contexts and in relation to the interests of the participants. This was a particularly interesting exercise, as it demonstrated aspects of how shifting from a ‘romantic’ orientation, fixated on the scale and impact of change, to a ‘baroque’ imagination approach, that prioritises contextual specificity and concrete examples, can be purposefully cultivated.
In the following Chapter I develop snapshot case studies using the two conceptual frameworks to draw out the multiple layers of relationships and processes at work in social innovation assemblages, and discuss the feedback and input provided by the two ‘user groups’ on the usefulness of this approach.
CHAPTER THREE: Public sector enabling of social
innovation – A new language of practice
One of the aims of this study is to facilitate more nuanced thinking about social innovation in relation to public sector policy. In this Chapter, the two previously outlined frameworks are put to work in analysing a series of snapshot case studies. All the case studies included involve a public sector entity, and all exhibit characteristics of integrated social innovation (generating social value whilst also improving social relations. The following discussion aims to exemplify a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics involved in social innovation assemblages. It is intentionally not evaluating the effectiveness of any aspect of the cases studies.
The two frameworks are designed to contribute to the development of weak theory in this domain, by offering more nuanced ways to describe the dynamics involved in social innovation assemblages. I suggest that this is a necessary step in working towards identifying new pathways for supportive policies and programs, as it helps to open up thinking about the multitude of different ways that enabling activities could be positioned. It also begins to reconstitute the building blocks available to those interested in enacting and building community economies.
In order to bring specificity and concreteness to each of the frameworks employed, and to facilitate cultivation of a baroque imagination, one aspect of each framework is drawn out in each case in the snapshots below.33
Reflections from the two ‘user groups’ about the characterisation exercise and the contribution it makes to strengthening policymaking around social innovation assemblages are then discussed. The Chapter concludes with a
33It should be noted that many of the case studies exhibit characteristics are relevant to multiple aspects of
discussion of the process by which the policy domain and case studies that are the focus of the following four Chapters were arrived at.