Introduction: Understanding social innovation in Africa

In the last decade in particular, the idea of social innovation has picked up momentum in practice and become an object of intensified research. Social innovation is seen to have great potential as a catalyst for more inclusive and sustainable development. As a reaction to the failure of public actors and structures and/or the market to deliver, the capacity for civil society innovation and social entrepreneurship seems to be relatively high in Africa. At the same time, a need for further knowledge exists to better understand and contextualise the dynamics of social innovation. This introductory chapter outlines a “social turn” in global social justice discourse and policymaking. In so doing, it identifies research voids in respect of social innovation in general, and in particular in respect of Africa. It positions the current book in this void and explains its contribution to better understanding the conceptual dynamics and societal function of social innovation as an instrument for promoting social justice.