Empowering policies for grassroots welfare initiatives : blending social innovation and commons theory

Social innovation scholars see grassroots welfare initiatives as being potentially empowering. However, they also argue that this potential is enhanced when these initiatives receive support from local governments through a bottom-linked approach to social innovation. This article examines how empowering policies for grassroots welfare initiatives can be provided within a bottom-linked approach, while considering the reservations expressed by critical urban scholars on the link between them. By introducing the concept of self-government developed within commons theory into the bottom-linked approach to social innovation, it argues that policies aiming to empower grassroots welfare initiatives should provide adequate material and legal support, and should foster the emergence of new initiatives, but should always be careful not to limit their self-governing capacity. The article carries out a comparative analysis of two cases of grassroots welfare initiatives in Barcelona, comparing two different policy interventions adopted by the local government: one is a case in which an empowering policy was implemented, and the other one is a case in which this did not take place. The article concludes by highlighting the contribution made by this study for both policymaking and scholarly research.