Social innovation in Southern European cities: local governance and citizen practices – Spanish cities as an illustration

Abstract

This introductory chapter provides the analytical framework to explain social innovation in Spanish cities as an illustration of similar practices in other Southern European cities. It sets the scene for the empirical analysis of the role of civil society and social movements in local governance of social innovation. Southern European countries share key characteristics of their local welfare systems and have similar institutional contexts in which social innovation gets incorporated in their cities. The austerity programmes after the 2008 crisis negatively affected social policy in these countries. The new local governance of policies against social exclusion integrated new actors from civil society. Austerity occasioned a new wave of social movements of citizens who came up with new social and political perspectives to address social problems. The analyses show the relevance of bottom-linked innovation in governance.