Author : Rocío Nogales Muriel
Release : 2017
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Kind : eBook
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Book Synopsis Social Transformation and Social Innovation in the Field of Culture by : Rocío Nogales Muriel

Download or read book Social Transformation and Social Innovation in the Field of Culture written by Rocío Nogales Muriel. This book was released on 2017. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The aim of this thesis is to explore how in a context of economic, political, social and environmental transitions, SMart, a cultural and artistic social enterprise (CASE), has developed a relevant model to contribute to mitigate the structural labor precariousness of artists and creators. We study SMart as a solution emanating from within the cultural sector that is also able to address other challenges related to changing notions of the role and place of artists and creators in society. Social enterprises emanating from and active in the cultural sector constitute a specific institutional arrangement that offers innovative labor arrangements for cultural workers and artists to fight against precariousness. Social enterprises are embedded in the social and solidarity economy and stand at the crossroads of markets, civil society, and the public, which places them in a critical position: depending on the logic, actors, and contexts at play, social enterprises can ensure to varying degrees the general interest through their social mission, their sustainability via the real participation of all their stakeholders and the carrying out of economic activities that are fully consistent with their mission. It is within this type of sustainability and participation that transformative social innovation can emerge. Even though they already existed under different forms and names, social enterprises began to be noticed by public administrations in Europe three decades ago and they developed firstly under the auspices of policy-makers as a result of their effectiveness in tackling the needs of disadvantaged groups. More recently, groups of citizens working for the general interest across various activity areas or within transitions-enabling initiatives have also embraced the transformational potential of social enterprises. Culture is one of the activity areas where CASE are appearing despite the difficulty of articulating innovation and culture in a way that facilitates social transformation for all citizens. The thesis is divided into seven chapters and includes four annexes. The introductory first chapter begins by setting up the context for the research, namely the challenges that 21st century transitions pose for culture and how cultural actors are articulating viable and sustainable responses in response to those challenges. The case study proposed, SMart and its expansion or geographic scaling-up process throughout Europe, is then presented. The five research objectives driving the research and the hypotheses associated to two of them are then described. The methodology used is introduced at this stage although a detailed account of the research design is included in Annex 1. The next three chapters describe the main notions and theories that frame the research: social enterprise and social innovation (chapter 2); the intricate relationship of social enterprise and (social) innovation with culture and the arts (chapter 3); and the diffusion of (social) innovation, with an emphasis of the adaptation and replication of social enterprises (chapter 4). Chapter 5 dives into the source or mother social enterprise (SMartbe) at the heart of the expansion process under study. It also summarizes the main stages involved in the launch of the European platform, SMarteu, gathering the various national SMart offices in nine countries. The chapter ends with an evaluation of the scaling up strategy based on the statistical analysis of the data. Chapter 6 opens with the set of criteria applied to select the three country cases (Austria, Spain and Hungary) and is then divided into the contextual general analysis and the description of the national SMart implementation efforts. The institutional framework analysis in the three countries describes the development of civil society, the third sector and social enterprise as well as the cultural field. Each country analysis ends with some conclusions about the context and the repercussions for the launch of SMart. Then each national SMart experience (SMartat, SMartib, and SMarthu) is described at length emphasizing its history, the functioning and services offered, and reflecting on the lessons learned and prospects for the future. The last chapter gathers the discussion and main conclusions of the research. The main research objectives and questions are reviewed and discussed and so are the specific lessons learned from the SMart case about the potential of the cultural sector for adapting possible solutions to contexts different to the ones where they originated. Then, some recommendations both for policy-makers at EU and local level and practitioners follow, including for SMart members, umbrella organization in the field of culture and social and solidarity economy organizations. Lastly, a discussion about limitations of the research and possible contributions is offered with a view on suggesting some valuable avenues for future research efforts." -- TDX.