On elephants, butterflies and lions: Social protection innovation and investment

Yuri Albert Kyrill Kazepov, Fabio Colombo, Tatiana Saruis

Publications: Contribution to bookChapterPeer Reviewed

Abstract

The rise of social innovation as a paradigm for social intervention is part of the ongoing restructuring process of post-war European welfare systems’. The chapter analyses this transformation focusing on how social innovation relates to other, more institutionalised paradigms of social intervention, namely social protection and social investment. The three paradigms’ main characteristics are represented through a metaphor using animals and their characteristics in order to exemplify their specificities. Elephants, representing the social protection paradigm as awkward, but solid and based on reciprocity and solidarity in the herd. Butterflies, representing the social innovation paradigm as flexible and creative, but fragile and unstable. Lions, representing the social investment paradigm as assertive, active in the preservation of their own status in a competitive context. The conditions within which these paradigms have developed, the institutions involved and their aims and functions are studied through a literature review. Then, the relations among them are investigated through the analysis of 31 case studies on innovation in welfare policies targeted to poverty and social exclusion conducted in the European Countries. The conclusions provide some reflections on the paradigms´ prospects by gaining an understanding of how their different combinations impact on their capacity to reduce poverty and social exclusion.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLocal Social Innovation to Combat Poverty and Exclusion
Subtitle of host publicationA Critical Appraisal
PublisherThe Policy Press
Chapter3
Pages43-62
ISBN (Print)978-1447338444
Publication statusPublished - 27 Nov 2019

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 509012 Social policy
  • 506014 Comparative politics

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