Assessing the impact of social innovation

This chapter questions prevalent methods for the assessment of social innovation (SI) and its impact. It argues that approaches based on quantitative indicators are inattentive to some of the most important dimensions and potentials of SI, and thus lead to evaluations that at best are incomplete and at worst create dysfunctional effects. After explaining the most prominent definitions of social innovation and situating them in their underlying ontologies, the chapter outlines a meta-methodological framework for assessing SI as agency and process embedded in a complex societal system, invoking the ASID (agency-structure-institutions-discourse) model and the transdisciplinary joint problematisation approach (JPA). Subsequently it evaluates some recent methodologies that have been used to assess the impact of SI against this framework. Finally, it presents an Action Research (AR) approach to SI assessment, based on collaborative learning, the role of narration, reflexivity and regular revision of theories and strategies.