Collaborative Research, Public Inquiry, and Democratic Experimentalism: Contributions and How to Apply Pragmatism to Social Innovation Studies

This article explores the contributions of a pragmatist approach to social innovation studies. It characterizes the epistemological assumptions of pragmatism and its implications to conceive of “science in action.” It explores the contributions of pragmatisms in developing a perspective to analyze civil society and its action to promote social innovation, focusing on the key notions of “public inquiry” and “democratic experimentalism.” The aim is to discuss the contributions, challenges, and limits of conducting pragmatic studies—from an analytical and methodological perspective—giving way to co-operative and engaged research that connects and co-ordinates teaching and knowledge transfer, theory and practice, experts and ordinary citizens, and knowledge and experiences in social innovation studies.