Critical Transitions in Social Innovation and Future Pathways to Sustainable Development Goals: The Indian Context

Abstract

This article examines the critical transitions in social innovation in India post
independence. Drawing insights from ‘systems thinking’, it explores the scope of social innovation towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on a desk review of 31 cases, this article demonstrates that social innovations in the neoliberal era largely cater to economic entrepreneurship without taking into account the social and environmental interlinkages. Such an approach can become a major barrier for achieving the SDGs. This article suggests people-centred and context-specific systemic social innovation approaches as possible pathways to achieve the SDGs.