Successful Niche Building by Social Innovation in Social Economy Networks and the Potential for Societal Transformation

Abstract

As current evolutions make the social economy increasingly visible and important, the paper examines the role of networking in social economy initiatives in strengthening their innovativeness capacities, and, thus, increasing their potential for societal transformation. Our analytical framework reflects the different clusters of networking relations within and outside social economy initiatives, as well as the roles of cognitive frames, skills and capacities, governance, activities, and funding under each of these networking clusters. This analysis is then applied in a particular social economy initiative, Cretamo, a consumers’ cooperative operating a grocery store in Thessaloniki, Greece. The results indicate that Cretamo has developed in the central node of an eco-system of same-minded social enterprises in the agro-food sector, offering an alternative niche to the mainstream economic model. This has changed relations both within the initiative and in its networks, while, at the same time, allows for increased innovativeness capacities. Cretamo has not yet the power to challenge the existing mainstream regime. Yet, it offers a valid alternative niche, which, combined with the socio-economic crisis still experienced in Greece and expected to intensify in the future, creates strong potential for societal transformation.

Keywords:

• Social innovation
• social economy
• networking
• social change
• social transformation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [EA], upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_10_473 [Accessed April 2021]

2 Following Adam Smith’s tradition, capitalism is considered an economic system characterized by private possession of means of productions. This is accompanied by a profit-making orientation, capital accumulation and competitive markets with minimum government intervention (Smith 2015).

3 http://www.transitsocialinnovation.eu/

4 http://www.transitsocialinnovation.eu/

5 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/613261

6 “Without middlemen” movement refers to the spread of self-organized markets across the country during 2012, where producers could sell directly to consumers, bypassing intermediary distribution channels (Backes et al. 2018).

7 The Greek square movement was one of the most dynamic square movements worldwide during 2011, as in large urban centres the squatting of the central squares lasted up to 3 months, while the movement also experienced a large spatial spread with square squats in more than 40 cities throughout Greece (Varvarousis 2020).

8 Since its characterisation as a Social and Solidarity Economy Entity under L.4430/2016, Cretamo is allowed to distribute its overall profits only to the members working in the cooperative. The rest of the members are only entitled to what is considered under this law as “surplus”, meaning the profit that stems from the transactions of the cooperative with its own members and it is up to the general assembly to decide if the surplus will be shared through rebates or it will be directed to investments or social purposes.

9 https://www.ica.coop/en/cooperatives/cooperative-identity#:∼:text=Cooperative%20values,responsibility%20and%20caring%20for%20others [Accessed April 2021].

10 According to the data of the Registry of Social and Solidarity Economy Entities, the most common sectors of activity of the SE initiatives are education, culture and leisure and retail food trade and food processing, each of them consisting 17% of the total registrations (British Council 2018).

11 https://www.statistics.gr/el/statistics/-/publication/SAM03/2011 [Accessed 26/08/2020].

12 1) product quality and compatibility committee, 2) committee on education and research, 3) evaluation committee, 4) promotion and communication committee, 5) events committee, 6) committee on economic and trade affairs 7) committee on store support and 8) conflict management committee.

13 For example, Cretamo co-organized a campaign for the reduction of the use of plastic bags with another grocery store in Thessaloniki, Greece.

14 By “crossing scales” Moore and Westley (2011) refer to ‘scaling out’, i.e. the replication and diffusion of an innovation across social boundaries that leads to saturation and conversion and “scaling up”, i.e. moving an innovation into a broader system and creating transformation.

Additional information

Funding

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) through the Operational Programme «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014–2020» in the context of the project “Social Innovation in the framework of Social and Solidarity Economy under the Community Economies perspective” [MIS 5047855].’