ABSTRACT
This chapter unpacks nuanced interfaces among intersectional societal inequities and grassroots solidarities of marginalised actors to explore the drivers, spaces and pathways of social innovation in solidarity economy. It explores processes of social innovation in several cases of community-based collectives of marginalised farmers in India through two key perspectives: (1) the micro socio-spatial context of inequity and social needs that drives social innovation and (2) processes of collectivisation of marginalised actors for social innovation and social change. Through a reconsidered understanding of social context and grassroots solidarities, the chapter aims to reframe the narrative of social innovation and in doing so more fully reveal its potential, contradictions, challenges and ways forward. It thus emphasises the relevance of collectives and solidarities in reimagining alternatives and renewing action that creates possibilities, enables agency of marginalised people and leads to transformative social change to address structural inequities.
