Social innovations in illiberal systems: two contrasting cases in Hungary

Description

Rising inequalities and deprivation have been important drivers for social innovation (SI). SIs are novel initiatives or novel combinations of known solutions, aimed at tackling a societal problem or creating new societal opportunities, applied in practice. SIs success requires enabling institutional framework that facilitate collaborative agency for its design and implementation. However, authoritarian governance undermines such framework conditions. Authoritarian regimes feed on social polarisation, centralisation of power, strengthening of hegemonic governance modes, weakening transparency, accountability, and the rules of law. Hungary has become a prime example of democratic backsliding with socio-spatial disparities intensified by perverse public policies and clientelist patterns of relations. By comparing two SI cases from Hungary, this presentation illustrates different ways, in which ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ SI practitioners can interact with, and operate in, an authoritarian system. It discusses how agents’ different positions influence their SI practices and strategies and offers theoretical and practical implications.

Period	6 Jun 2024
Event title	The Eu-SPRI Forum Annual Conference 2024: Governing Technology, Research, and Innovation for Better Worlds
Event type	Conference
Location	Enschede, NetherlandsShow on map