Skip to main content

Nourishing the Social Innovation Debate with the “Social Technology” South American Research Tradition

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations volume 32, pages 663–677 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Inspired by the South American research tradition known as “social technology,” this article proposes an operational framework to advance the understanding of mechanisms that help to promote social transformation. To illustrate its theorizing potential, we apply the framework to a nonprofit organization–Parole d’excluEs–that was created in Montreal (Canada) in 2006 and that has been promoting citizen mobilization and commitment to social change (parole-dexclues.ca). To that end, we offer a theoretical paper with an empirical illustration as a first step in a reflection on employing a global South theoretical lens–drawing on the concept of social technology–to make sense of a global North social innovation experience and to advance existing knowledge on the mechanisms of social transformation. The results contribute to social innovation research and practice, particularly at the interface between the management and nonprofit literatures.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Notes

  1. 1.

    The articles written by those authors are among the 200 articles used in the literature review of social technologies (Pozzebon 2015; Pozzebon and Fontenelle 2018).

References

  1. Alvesson, M., & Karreman, D. (2007). Constructing mistery: Empirical matters in theory development. Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1265–1281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Austin, J., Stevenson, H., & Wei-Skillern, J. (2006). Social and commercial entrepreneurship: Same, different, or both? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bouchard, M. (2012). Social innovation, an analytical grid for understanding the social economy: the example of the Quebec housing sector. Service Business, 6(1), 47–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bouchard, M. J., & Lévesque, B. (2017). Les innovations sociales et l’économie sociale: Nouveaux enjeux de transformation sociale. In J. Defourny and M. Nyssens. (Eds.), Économie sociale et solidaire. Socio-économie du 3e secteur (397–442). Paris: De Boeck.

  5. Cajaiba-Santana, G. (2014). Social innovation: Moving the field forward. A conceptual framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 82, 42–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cardoso, F. H., & Faletto, E. (1974). Dependencia y desarrollo en America Latina – Ensayo de interpretación sociológica. Mexico: Librería SigloXXI.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Chalmers, D. M., & Balan-Vnuk, E. (2012). Innovating not-for-profit social ventures: Exploring the microfoundations of internal and external absorptive capacity routines. International Small Business Journal, 31(7), 785–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dagnino, R., Brandão, F., & Novaes, H. T. (2004). Sobre o marco analítico-conceitual da tecnologia social. In A. Lassance (Ed.), Tecnologia social: Uma estratégia para o desenvolvimento (pp. 15–64). Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Banco do Brasil.

    Google Scholar 

  9. De Wit, A., Mensink, W., Einarsson, T., & Bekkers, R. (2017). Beyond service production: Volunteering for social innovation. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 1–20.

  10. Dover, G., & Lawrence, T. B. (2012). The role of power in nonprofit innovation. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(6), 991–1013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dry-Net.org (2020). One million cisterns for water harvesting in North East Brazil. https://dry-net.org/initiatives/one-million-cisterns-for-water-harvesting-in-north-east-brazil/

  12. Fonseca, R., & Serafim, M. (2009). A tecnologia social e seus arranjos institucionais. In R. Dagnino (Ed.), Tecnologia social: Ferramenta para construir outra sociedade (pp. 154–183). Campinas: Instituto de Geociências-UNICAMP.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fontan, J.-M., & Heck, I. (2017). Parole d’excluEs: Croisement des savoirs, des pouvoirs et des pratiques au sein de l’Incubateur universitaire Parole d’excluEs. Éducation et Socialisation, 45(1–2).

  14. Freire, P. (2005). Education for critical consciousness. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Furtado, C. (1974). O mito do desenvolvimento econômico. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Guo, C., Webb, N. J., Abzug, R., & Peck, L. R. A. (2013). Religious affiliation, religious attendance, and participation in social change organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(1), 34–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Haddad, T. (2020). Angela M. Eikenberry, Roseanne M. Mirabella, and Billie Sandberg (eds.), Reframing nonprofit organizations: Democracy, inclusion, and social change. Melvin & Leigh. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 31(4), 830–831.

  18. Hall, J., Matos, S., Sheehan, L., & Silvestre, B. (2012). Entrepreneurship and innovation at the base of the pyramid: A recipe for inclusive growth or social exclusion? Journal of Management Studies, 49(4), 785–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Haugh, H. M., & Talwar, A. (2016). Linking social entrepreneurship and social change: The mediating role of empowerment. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(4), 643–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Herrera, A., Leite Lopes, J., Sábato, J., et al. (1970). América Latina: Ciencia y Tecnología en el Desarrollo de la Sociedad (p. 1970). Chile: Editorial Universitaria.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hollington, A., Tappe, O., Salvrda, T., & Schwarz, T. (2015). Introduction: Concept of the global South. Cologne: Global South Studies Center.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Howaldt, H., Kopp, R., & Schwarz, M. (2013). Social innovations as drivers of social change – Tarde’s disregarded contribution to social innovation theory building. Germany: Technische Universität Dortmund.

    Google Scholar 

  23. ITS (2004). Caderno de debate: tecnologia social no Brasil. Instituto de Tecnologia Social (ITS). Sao Paulo: ITS, 2004. http://itsbrasil.org.br/conheca/tecnologia-social/

  24. Klein, J. L., Fontan, J. M., Harrisson, D., & Lévesque, B. (2012). The Quebec system of social innovation: A focused analysis on the local development field. Finisterra, 47(94), 9–28.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Lévesque, B. (2014) “As Inovações Sociais Podem Contribuir para Transformações, Mas Isso Não é Tão Evidente”. Revista Ciências em Debate on-line. 1:2, 179–199.

  26. Mair, J., Wolf, M., & Seelos, C. (2016). Scaffolding: A process of transforming patterns of inequality in small-scale societies. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 2021–2044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Marques, P., Morgan, K., & Richardson, R. (2018). Social innovation in question: The theoretical and practical implications of a contested concept. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 36(3), 496–512.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Miranda, I., Lopez, M., & Soares, M. C. C. (2011). Social technology network: Paths for sustainability. Innovation and Development, 1(1), 151–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Montgomery, T. (2016). Are Social Innovation Paradigms Incommensurable? VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(4), 1979–2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Moulaert, F., Hamdouch, A., MacCallum, D., & Mehmood, A. (2013). The international handbook on social innovation. Massachusetts, US: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  31. Ospina, S., & Foldy, E. (2010). Building bridges from the margins: The work of leadership in social change organizations. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(2), 292–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Phillips, W., Lee, H., Ghobadian, A., O’Regan, N., & James, P. (2015). Social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Group and Organization Management, 40(3), 428–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Pol, E., & Ville, S. (2009). Social Innovation: Buzz Word or Enduring Term? The Journal of Socio-Economics., 38(6), 878–885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Pozzebon, M. (2015) Tecnologia social: A South American view of technology and society relationship. In F.-X. Vaujany, N. Mitev, G. F. Lanzara, A. Mukherjee Materiality, rules and regulation, new trends in management and organization studies (Chap. 1, pp. 33–51). Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmilian.

  35. Pozzebon, M. (2018). From aseptic distance to passionate engagement: reflections about the place and value of participatory inquiry. RAUSP Management Journal, 53(2), 280–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Pozzebon, M., & Fontenelle, I. A. (2018). Fostering the post-development debate: the Latin American concept of tecnologia social. Third World Quarterly, 39(9), 1750–1769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Pozzebon, M., Tello-Rozas, S., & Heck, I. (2017). The transformative paths of social technologies: influences back and forth between Quebec and South America. In ISTR’s 11 Conferencia Regional de ISTR para América Latina y el Caribe, Quito, Ecuador, October 18–20 (pp. 2–17).

  38. Pozzebon, M., Tello-Rozas, S., & Heck, I. (2018). Parole d’excluEs: Southern ideas influencing social innovation in Quebec. In ISTR’s 13th International Conference, Amsterdam, July 10–13, 2018.

  39. Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2008). The SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  40. Santos, B. S., & Meneses, M. P. (2010). (Org.). Epistemologias do Sul. São Paulo: Cortez.

  41. Serreau, C. (2010). Solutions locales pour des perturbations globales. Paris: Acted Sud.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Smith, A. (2005). The Alternative Technology Movement: An Analysis of its Framing and Negotiation of Technology. Development Human Ecology Review, 12(2), 106–119.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Smith, A., Fressoli, M., & Thomas, H. (2014). Grassroots innovation movements: Challenges and contributions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 63, 114–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Souza, A. A. A., & Pozzebon, M. (2020). Práticas e mecanismos de uma tecnologia social: transformação social no semiárido. Organizaçoes & Sociedade, 27(93): 231–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the Subaltern Speak? Basingstoke: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  46. STB (2020). Social Technology Bank of the Banco do Brasil Foundation. https://fbb.org.br/pt-br/ra/conteudo/banco-de-tecnologias-sociais

  47. Stephan, U., Patterson, M., Kelly, C., & Mair, J. (2016). Organizations driving positive social change. Journal of Management, 42(5), 1250–1281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Taylor, R., Torugsa, N., & Arundel, A. (2018). Leaping into real-world relevance: An “abduction” process for nonprofit research. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 47(1), 206–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Tello Rozas, S. (2016). Inclusive innovations through social and solidarity economy initiatives: A process analysis of a Peruvian case study. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(1), 61–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Thomas, H., & Buch, A. (2013). Actos, actores y artefactos. Sociología de la tecnología. Argentina: National University of Quilmes.

  51. Tracey, P., & Stott, N. (2017). Social innovation: a window on alternative ways of organizing and innovating. Innovation 19.1 (2017): 51–60.

  52. Van der Have, R. P., & Rubalcaba, L. (2016). Social innovation research: An emerging area of innovation studies? Research Policy, 45(9), 1923–1935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Von Schnurbein, G., Perez, M., & Gehringer, T. (2018). Nonprofit Comparative Research: Recent Agendas and Future Trends. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 29, 437–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Westley, F., Antadze, N., Riddell, D. J., Robinson, K., & Geobey, S. (2014). Five configurations for scaling up social innovation. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 50(3), 234–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. HEC Montréal, Montréal, Canada

    Marlei Pozzebon

  2. FGV EAESP, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marlei Pozzebon

  3. ESG UQAM, Montréal, Canada

    Sonia Tello-Rozas

  4. UQAM & Parole d’excluEs, Montréal, Canada

    Isabel Heck

Authors
  1. Marlei Pozzebon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sonia Tello-Rozas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Isabel Heck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marlei Pozzebon.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

The empirical research and protocol comply with the ethical standards of the Parole d’excluEs research norms.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pozzebon, M., Tello-Rozas, S. & Heck, I. Nourishing the Social Innovation Debate with the “Social Technology” South American Research Tradition. Voluntas 32, 663–677 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00314-0

Download citation

Keywords

  • Social innovation
  • Social technology
  • Social transformation mechanisms
  • Global south
  • Nonprofit