Title: Conceptions of Social Innovation and Local Development: A Comparative analysis between Europe, the United States, and Japan
Speaker: Ryunosuke Takatsu (PhD Student in Socioeconomics, University of Rennes 2)
Abstract:
The movement of social innovation has been receiving worthy attention as the key to local developments since the 1980s. However, this concept seems to be discussed in different ways, depending on the nation. One of them develops in the field of business administration, mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries. This perspective tends to find solutions to the social problems oriented by the market mechanism with the key terms such as social business and social entrepreneurship. In European countries, the studies of social and solidarity economy focus on the empowerment of initiatives in civil society in order to meet the local needs. On the other hand, the ideas of social innovation in Japan show us another aspect, which is the new role of local government. Some municipalities play as crucial social actors for local development.
My presentation will suggest that this divergence does not mean that there are entirely different ways to approach social innovation, but all of them are, respectively, one of the critical aspects to it. This synthetic perspective could reveal the essence of the nature of social innovation, which are the diversification of social actors and the localism principle.
Discussant: Prof. Stefano Bartolini (University of Siena, Italy)
Chair: Dr. Yoshihiro Nakano (Waseda University)
Date: 15th January 2019
Time: 16: 30-18: 00
Place: Waseda Main Campus, Building 14, Room 960