Dear colleagues,
We are happy to announce the recent publication of a Special Issue of the RC40 journal International Sociology of Agriculture and Food (IJSAF) , edited by Yuna Chiffoleau and Allison Loconto, that is focused specifically on social innovation.
In the literature and in current public discourse, innovation is usually taken to mean technological innovation, which is carried out through the figure of the entrepreneur. This special issue first goes back to the emergence of the notion of social innovation, dedicated to including other processes, actors and purposes. It reminds us that the notion has been shaped by the crises that faced societies from the 1970s and presents the two fields of research that have anchored the notion in different theoretical positions. We highlight how the food and agricultural sector illustrates the three current meanings of social innovation, despite the fact that the general literature on social innovation usually focuses only on a few types of initiatives. We explain how the papers of this special issue demonstrate that agriculture and food represent an exemplary empirical terrain to push forward thinking in the field, such as the need for a better understanding of ‘social innovation in the making’ or of the processes of innovation scaling. This special issue thus not only consolidates a collection of contributions to the area of research on social innovation in the sociology of agriculture and food, but it also frames a new and potential contribution of sociology to the literature on social innovation.
IJSAF is open access and all articles are freely downloadable.
Check out the current issue on the RC40 Webpage: https://www.isa-agrifood.com/current-issue or on the publisher's website: www.ijsaf.org
Happy reading!
Yuna and Allison
Volume 24, Issue 3 (2018)
Special Issue: SOCIAL INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURE AND FOOD: OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES?
Social Innovation in Agriculture and Food: Old Wine in New Bottles? (pp. 306- 317)
Yuna Chiffoleau and Allison Marie Loconto
Transformative Social Innovation for Food Sovereignty: The Disruptive Alternative (pp. 318-335)
Paula Juárez, Florencia Trentini, and Lucas Becerra
The Emergence, Dynamics and Agency of Social Innovation in Seed Exchange Networks (pp. 336-353)
Bálint Balázs and Guntra Aistara
London’s urban agriculture (pp. 354-376)
Les Levidow
Factors for Effectiveness of Social Innovations in Urban Agriculture (pp. 377-392)
Dona Pickard
Solidarity Purchasing Groups in Italy (pp. 393-412)
Lara Maestripieri, Toa Giroletti, and Antonello Podda
Urban Food Movements and Their Transformative Capacities (pp. 413-430)
Cordula Kropp
The transformative potential of social innovation. The case of the wheat and bread value chain in Tuscany (pp. 431-448)
Adanella Rossi and Riccardo Bocci