4th International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC)

12-14 September 2012

Hosted by the Third Sector Research Centre, University of Birmingham

Each year ISIRC brings together the international academic community focusing on social entrepreneurship, enterprise and innovation.

This year ISIRC has received paper submissions from six continents and more than 30 countries. Confirmed plenary speakers include:

• Professor Dennis Young, Georgia State University: The State of Theory and Research on Social Enterprise.
• Dr Alex Nicholls, Oxford University: The Politics of Social Innovation: An International Comparison.
• Professor Graham Smith, University of Southampton: Associative Democracy and the Social Economy: Exploring the Regulatory Challenge.
• Dr Pascal Dey, St Gallen University: Social Enterprise in the United Kingdom Nonprofit Sector: A Multifaceted Relation.
• Dr Paul Tracey, Cambridge University: Ethnography as method for the study of social entrepreneurship
• Dr MariaLaura di Domenico: Title to be confirmed

People who have submitted an abstract can expect to receive a decision by 21 May 2012. Full papers should be no longer than 9,000 words and should be sent directly to the conference organiser. Registration will open in June 2012.

Although single paper abstract submissions are now closed we continue to welcome panel submissions for a co-ordinated set of papers around a particular theme. Abstracts should identify and justify the panel theme, and a full abstract for each panel paper should also be included. Panel submissions should be sent to ISIRC@tsrc.ac.uk before the deadline of 13 May 2012.

The conference organisers are also editing a special issue of International Journal of Public Sector Management under the theme: Social innovation and public services in an era of austerity. Details of the call for papers can be found here.

Conference Streams:

Please click the links below for more information on each of the conference streams:

Stream 1: Starting and scaling up social ventures

Stream 2: Towards a critical understanding of social entrepreneurship

Stream 3: Impact and performance

Stream 4: Public services and innovation

Stream 5: Governance and stakeholder relationships

Stream 6: The politics of social innovation

Open track: (Other papers relating to social entrepreneurship, enterprise and innovation)

For further information about ISIRC 2012 please contact either the relevant stream leads, or the conference organiser Simon Teasdale: ISIRC@tsrc.ac.uk