Hendrik Wagenaar - The Emergence of Civic Enterprise: Bottom-Up Social Innovation and the Possibilities for Democratic Renewal in the Administrative State

When: Wednesday, 16th May 2018, 18:30. Where: Seminarraum 1 IPW (A 0228), NIG second floor, University of Vienna, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna. Guest lecture by Hendrik Wagenaar (Paul Lazarsfeld Guest Professorship) as part of the IPW Lectures, an international lecture series at the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna.

Invitation to the IPW Lecture The Emergence of Civic Enterprise: Bottom-Up Social Innovation and the Possibilities for Democratic Renewal in the Administrative State.

Lecturer: Hendrik Wagenaar (Paul Lazarsfeld Guest Professorship)
Chair: Ulrich Brand (Department of Political Science, University of Vienna)

When: Wednesday, 16th May 2018, 18:30
Where: Seminarraum 1 IPW (A 0228), NIG second floor, University of Vienna, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna

Abstract:
Over the last two decades Civic Enterprises (CEs) have emerged in virtually every European country addressing a wide range of social needs, such as work integration, child care, adult care, urban renewal, community development, social welfare delivery, and sustainable energy. Civic enterprises may become sites of innovation and experimentation with new forms of organisation, financing and governance. Based on fieldwork in the Netherlands, I describe how citizens navigate the political-administrative environment in which their civic enterprise operates and how they position themselves within and against that environment. In the second part of my presentation I address the key question to what extent these bottom-up citizen initiatives are able to scale up to more enduring, institutionalized democratic innovation. Alternatively I interpret them as a form of social innovation, as a counter-institution within a radical democratic framework, and as hybrid forms of governance within a culture of administrative democratisation.

Participation in this event series is free of charge. This event is part of the IPW Lectures, an international lecture series at the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna.

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