Against Social Innovation

This chapter offers a critique of social innovation (SI). I am not interested in making a case to reject outright the promise, potential, or hope for social innovation (SI). Even if it is indeed just an empty signifier, social innovation can still serve a larger political purpose. Instead my purpose is to point to the limitations of this phrase and the dangers in using the term uncritically. What is lost when we unthinkingly take on board an expectation that SI has a coherent meaning and that, therefore, it (somehow) happens? I pose four questions. What is SI? Where does it reside? How does it happen? And why is SI important?