Everyone a changemaker? Exploring the moral underpinnings of social innovation discourse through real utopias

The term ‘social innovation’ has come to gather all manner of
meanings from policymakers and politicians across the political
spectrum. But while actors may unproblematically unite around a
broad perspective of social innovation as bringing about (positive)
social change, we rarely see evidence of a shared vision for the
kind of social change that social innovation ought to bring about.
Taking inspiration from methods that recognise the utopian thinking
inherent in the social innovation concept, we draw upon Erik
Olin Wright’s concept of ‘real utopias’ to investigate the moral
underpinnings inherent in the public statements of Ashoka, one
of the most prominent social innovation actors operating in the
world today. We seek to animate discussion on the moral principles
that guide social innovation discourse through examining
the problems that Ashoka is trying to solve through social innovation,
the world they are striving to create, and the strategies
they propose to realise their vision.