Exploring Civic Innovation for Social and Economic Transformation

This edited collection examines the globally rising phenomenon of civic innovation. Combining nuanced theory with rich empirical examples, this book defines the dynamic and complex process of civic innovation as the multiple economic, political and social processes where peoples, organizations, movements and ideas are shaping struggles for global justice on the interface of capitalism. Exploring Civic Innovation for Social and Economic Transformation reflects the increasingly holistic approach to development in terms of both teaching and research, and illustrates how civic innovation happens everywhere; at the global and institutional level as well as in communities and for individuals. Through conceptual debate and narrative accounts, this book explores the new practices emerging from varying economies, transformative empowerment strategies in global value chains, local politics of social movements and the struggles for rights in regards to race, gender and sexuality. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, this book would be of interest to post-graduate students of development studies, with an interest in social research.

Kees Biekart is Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Wendy Harcourt is Associate Professor in Critical Development and Feminist Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Peter Knorringa is Professor of Private Sector and Development at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction: Giving meaning to Civic Innovation Kees Biekart, Wendy Harcourt and Peter Knorringa Chapter 2 The Institutional Foundations of Civic Innovation Georgina Gomez and Holly Ritchie Chapter 3 Change actors and civic innovators: who triggers change? Systematizing the role of interlocutors in civic innovation processes Alan Fowler Chapter 4 Can Consultants be Civic Innovators? Exploring their Roles as Auditors and Allies Sylvia I. Bergh and Kees Biekart Chapter 5 Between State, Market and Civil Society: What constitutes the social in social entrepreneurship? A.H.J. (Bert) Helmsing Chapter 6 Civic Innovation in Value Chains: Towards Workers as Agents in Non-governmental Labour Regulation Karin Astrid Siegmann, Jeroen Merk and Peter Knorringa Chapter 7 Civic Innovation by Family Farmers in the Face of Global Value Chain Inclusion: Between Material Conditions and Imagined Futures Lee Pegler and Wanessa Marques Silva Chapter 8 Exploring embodiment and intersectionality in transnational feminist activist research Wendy Harcourt, Rosalba Icaza and Virginia Vargas Chapter 9 Towards new perspectives on labour precarity and decent work of sex workers Silke Heumann, Karin Astrid Siegmann and Empower Foundation Chapter 10 Resistance and Hope: youth responding to the economic crisis in Southern Europe Paulina (Sat) Trejo-Mendez, Paula Sánchez de la Blanca, Laura Santamaría Buitrago, Emma Claire Sardoni and Guilia Simula with Wendy Harcourt Chapter 11 Civic Activism and Social Accountability: a Quantitative Approach Anderson Macedo de Jesus and Irene van Staveren Chapter 12 Minding the gap between activism and academia - or bridging it? Reflections on how to do civic innovation research Kees Biekart and Karin Astrid Siegmann Chapter 13 Conclusion: Moving agendas forward Kees Biekart, Wendy Harcourt and Peter Knorringa