Social innovation and local systems of governance: A comparison of political participation by networks for the promotion of a solidarity-based economy in Barcelona and Bilbao
Abstract
This article deals with the knowledge on the territorial rooting of social innovation processes. The research focuses on the participation in governance of two networks of entities (Red de Economía Alternativa y Solidaria Euskadi and Xarxa d’Economia Solidaria de Catalunya) aimed at promoting a solidarity-based economy, which focus their activity on two different cities: Barcelona and Bilbao. It starts from the assumption that it is possible to identify these networks as socially creative initiatives which promote dynamics of social innovation and are working to produce changes in the dynamics of social exclusion and the power relations between social groups. Both entities are characterized as complex organizations that consider the economic, cultural and political dimensions of social transformation. It is shown in detail how they articulate governance relations with public authorities and which mechanisms they consider capable of promoting innovation in policymaking. Significant differences between the two selected cases are found regarding the utility of participating in governance relations with public administrations. The research concludes that local systems of multilevel governance – with their particular political cultures of negotiation and conflict – condition the organization of social innovation dynamics. The article reveals how the materialization of governance relations in Barcelona and Bilbao lend a specific character to socially transformative associations and define particular conditions for social innovation.Keywords
social innovation, multilevel governance, solidarity-based economy, urban sociologyPublished
2015-12-16
How to Cite
Eizaguirre Anglada, S. (2015). Social innovation and local systems of governance: A comparison of political participation by networks for the promotion of a solidarity-based economy in Barcelona and Bilbao. Papers. Revista De Sociologia, 101(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/papers.1796
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Copyright (c) 2015 Santiago Eizaguirre Anglada

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