Women's empowerment and social innovation in childcare : the case of Barcelona, Spain
Gallego, Raquel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Maestripieri, Lara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques

Date:	2022
Abstract:	Social innovation and empowerment are complex concepts that, from an analytical point of view, are not necessarily related. One explicit goal of social innovation is to empower communities, as well as the individuals that are involved in activities within those communities, but this does not necessarily always occur. Here we address the question 'Does social innovation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) empower women?' First, we explore whether the projects we examine can be defined as social innovations. Second, we analyse to what extent arrangements that are identified as innovative in ECEC empower the mothers who choose them. We argue that if the characteristics of a particular social innovation project enhance or reinforce the capabilities of the women who participate in it, that experience will most probably empower them; if not, this is unlikely to occur. Our empirical material includes 37 interviews (with key informants, educators, and mothers involved in these noninstitutionalised projects), collected in the city of Barcelona in the months that preceded the first COVID-19 lockdown in Spain (March 2020). Our results reveal the socioeconomic bias in these projects, as well as the costs derived for both sets of participants (mothers and educators). They also show the wider social impact that stems from these projects being under-regulated.
Grants:	"la Caixa" Foundation 2017ACUP04
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Social innovation ; Women's empowerment ; Early years education and care ; ECEC ; Barcelona
Published in:	European Societies, Vol. 24, núm. 4 (2022) , p. 493-519, ISSN 1461-6696

DOI: 10.1080/14616696.2022.2092641

Preprint 20 p, 532.6 KB

Postprint 36 p, 407.7 KB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Instituto de Gobierno y Políticas Públicas (IGOP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles