Social innovations are widely discussed as responses to societal challenges and are also a key reference point in the BMFTR -funded research project BePart. Scientifically, however, the concept has a number of pitfalls. In particular, the implicit assumption of a belief in progress, its equation of change with improvement, and its inherent optimism about control require critical reflection.

The analysis of the discursive charging and enforcement of certain practices as social innovation also appears particularly revealing. Here, it is relevant who perceives innovations as “innovative” and from what position. This is because social innovations are not only produced on the pragmatic level of addressing needs, but also require semantic marking—labeling as “socially innovative.” Innovativeness always presupposes a value judgment, since the promotion of a social innovation requires that a social issue be problematized as needing change and action. It is therefore crucial to analyze who has the power of interpretation to legitimize their own perceptions of problems and the innovative solution strategies tailored to them.

We argue that social science research should not subscribe to the concept's optimistic connotations of progress, but rather that its task is to analytically accompany the processes of discursive simplification and the connection between political and scientific interpretive power. This applies in particular to current developments in which the social sciences are increasingly being called upon by politicians to research and test social innovations.

We were able to contribute this critical perspective in a keynote speech entitled „Steuerbarkeit sozialer Innovationen?“ (Controllability of social innovations?) at the closing event of the BMFTR funding line „Regionale Faktoren für Innovation und Wandel erforschen – Gesellschaftliche Innovationsfähigkeit stärken“ (Exploring regional factors for innovation and change – strengthening social innovation capacity) on June 3, 2025.

In addition, the article „Soziale Innovationen als Labeling in aktuellen Transformationsprozessen“ (Social Innovations as Labeling in Current Transformation Processes) by Franz Erhard and Nadine Jukschat was recently published in Kriminologischen Journal 57 (2), pp. 114-131. It links the debate on social innovations with that on social problems in order to explain social construction processes.