Decolonizing Social Innovation for Global Development The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Kalema, Naigwe Lee. 2019. Decolonizing Social Innovation for Global Development. Master's thesis, Harvard Extension School. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42004242 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Decolonizing Social Innovation for Global Development Naigwe Najjemba Lee Kalema A Thesis in the Field of International Relations for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies Harvard University May 2019 Copyright 2019 Naigwe Najjemba Lee Kalema Abstract Systemic barriers inherited from colonialism—read coloniality—block equitable access to resources and diminishes the agency of non-hegemonic actors in the world today. In the area of social innovation, coloniality limits the agency of formerly colonized and non-hegemonic groups engaging in social innovation projects and systems. Overall, this undermines effective collaborations between actors, and in the global development sector, the very aim of its work. Research is needed to deconstruct power dynamics linked to coloniality in the social innovation for development (SI4D) sector to create more effective collaborations and inclusive social innovation processes and systems. Today, in the global development sector, uncritical approaches to social innovation support the maintenance of power asymmetries linked to coloniality by confirming blind spots (even where there may be good intentions) and failing to focus on and address the persistent inequities that are animated in their approaches and practices. By providing insights into how coloniality manifests through social innovation processes, this thesis provides new insights into where power asymmetries and imbalances continue to exist, and what some social innovation actors are doing to diminish and eradicate them; in essence, we learn about how social innovation activism is engaging in decolonizing movements to transform coloniality-shaped innovation landscapes. Specifically, this critical qualitative research explores how social innovation actors are working to eradicate those barriers—read decolonizing social innovation—by going beyond neoliberal models, market outcomes, and funder-metrics to integrate global iii social justice into how they engage and reshape social innovation systems, practices, and its discourse. Also, this research makes a case for why inclusive innovation is not a euphemism for decolonizing social innovation. Decolonizing social innovation for global development prioritizes replacing a saviorhood approach to social innovation with a solidarity-approach as the latter can deliver not only social impact but also diminish systemic oppression both internally and externally. By changing the nature of engagement between actors, decolonizing approaches to social innovation can foster deeper collaborations, more reciprocal relationships, and more empowering outcomes for non-hegemonic groups. This decolonizing approach to social innovation can transform opportunity structures to affect social transformations that are invested in global social justice.! iv Dedication This is for all who strive to create a more liberating and just world each day. ! v Acknowledgments To all the people who have helped me to become who I am: my family who have cultivated, accepted, and loved me unconditionally—Nambago Kalema (Daddy), Rita Kalema (Mommy), Maliza Kalema, Maaso Kalema, and (Auntie) Doreen Kalema and the rest of my beautiful expansive family; my circle of strong women and men who have always lifted me up—Dr. Yaminah Gilles-Apolonio, Wayne Jackson, Dr. Deidre Ammah, Zoe Ozveren, Dr. Giuseppe Cantafio, Russ Morgridge, Nancy Adams, and Dr. Alistair McKnight; my first visionary friends who urged me to begin on this journey many years ago when I was unsure: Amir Khan, Andrew Damron, and Glaucia Ribeiro; my many teachers who’ve inspired me throughout my life—Mr. Gokey, Professor. James Miller, Professor. Antonio Lopez, Betty Ikalany, Professor. Dan Frey, Dr. Keridwen Luis, and Joost Bonsen; my Dimick home—Amit Gandhi, Dr. Dan Sweeney, Tim Huang, Heewon Lee, and Jess Huang; my thesis director whose courage, wit, and intellect guided me through this process—Professor Doris Sommer; all of my ancestors who dreamed me into existence before there was an “I”; and the future generations who will someday come.! vi List of Acronyms CoB Coloniality of Being CoC Coloniality of Culture CoK Coloniality of Knowledge CoP Colonial Matrix of Power IGO Intergovernmental Organizations INGO International Non-governmental Organization NGO Non-governmental Organization NPO Non-Profit Organization SI Social Innovation SIE Social Innovation Ecosystem SI4D Social Innovation for Development SIA Social Innovation Activism vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................... iii! Dedication ................................................................................................................................. v! Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... vi! List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................... vii! List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... xi! Chapter I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1! Research Problem ........................................................................................................ 5! Questions ...................................................................................................................... 6! Justification .................................................................................................................. 7! Hypothesis .................................................................................................................... 7! Chapter II. Theory .................................................................................................................... 9! Colonialism .................................................................................................................. 9! Coloniality .................................................................................................................. 10! Developmentalism ..................................................................................................... 13! Modernity ................................................................................................................... 15! Decoloniality .............................................................................................................. 17! Chapter III. Social Innovation ............................................................................................... 19! Definitions .................................................................................................................. 20! Preliminary Research ................................................................................................. 24! Survey of the Existing Scholarship ........................................................................... 25! viii Searches ......................................................................................................... 25! Power Analysis in Social Innovation Scholarship ...................................... 26! Decolonizing Movements in Academia ....................................................... 27! Existing Scholarship on Decolonizing Social Innovation .......................... 28! Social Economy ......................................................................................................... 31! Social Innovation Ecosystems .................................................................................. 32! Social Capital ............................................................................................................. 33! Global Social Justice.................................................................................................. 36! Chapter IV. Power .................................................................................................................. 39! Chapter V Research ................................................................................................................ 42! Methodology .............................................................................................................. 42! Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 46! Limitations ................................................................................................................. 47! Chapter VI. Findings: Secondary Case Studies .................................................................... 49! Secondary Case Studies: Academia .......................................................................... 49! Renato ...........................................................................................................