Innovations in Social Innovation Research: Towards Structuring Innovation Dynamics

Abstract

Despite social innovation being a complex and dynamic process that unfolds amongst multiple actors over time, research methods have often overprivileged individual social innovators and not adequately considered structural and situational context, the full range of actors, or time. Responding to the field's call for innovative research methodologies, the writers independently sought to bridge this gap. This article introduces their respective case studies, which both employed Strong Structuration Theory as part of theoretical and methodological bricolage to understand better the dynamic interactions and processes across social structures and levels of analysis. After exploring each case’s research questions, methodologies, and findings, this cross-case comparison finds three shared insights: the importance of individual structures, the role of power, and the fluid nature of external structures. The article closes with key applications for changemaker educators and social innovation practitioners, funders, and policymakers, revealing how they can foster interactive dynamics that enable social innovation and structural change.