Social Foundations Overview

Principles

Definition

Social foundations is an interdisciplinary field of academic inquiry dedicated to investigating the historical, philosophical, sociological, and cultural contexts that shape a given phenomenon or institution. It critically analyzes the fundamental societal structures, values, and ideas that underpin and influence its form and function, providing essential context for understanding its development and implications.

Ontological type

Theoretical Frameworks

Educational Implications

Historical Origins

Key developments

Key Figures

Social Capital Paradigm era

Robert D. Putnam [1] is a leading figure in this era, with affiliations at Harvard University [3] and the University of British Columbia [4]. His key contribution, Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital [7], reframes civic life by showing how declines in social networks erode democratic engagement and policy effectiveness. Scott Lash [2] is a prominent theorist associated with Lund University [5] and Lancaster University [6] during this era. His 1994 work Risk Society, Towards a New Modernity [8], advanced the analysis of how risk, globalization, and reflexive modernity restructure political economy and social life, influencing cross-national comparison in social theory.

Metrics and Governance era

Helga Nowotny[1] is associated with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne[3] and the National University of Singapore[4] during this era. Nowotny[1] argues that science is public knowledge shaped by discourse and legitimacy work in Re-Thinking Science: Knowledge and the Public in an Age of Uncertainty (2003)[7], a contribution that reframes science in society and highlights how knowledge infrastructures influence governance. Vivien A. Schmidt[2] is connected with Boston University[5] and the University of Massachusetts Boston[6] during this era. Schmidt[2] advances discursive institutionalism as the fourth ‘new institutionalism’ in Taking ideas and discourse seriously: explaining change through discursive institutionalism as the fourth ‘new institutionalism’ (2010)[8], illustrating how discourse shapes policy and governance within measurement regimes.

Neoliberal Social Infrastructure era

Simon Teasdale [1] is associated with University College London [3] and Queen's University Belfast [4] in this era, shaping debates on social innovation and the evolving social entrepreneurship concept. His key contributions in this era include How Social Innovation ‘Came to Be’: Tracing the Evolution of a Contested Concept [7] and The (R)evolution of the Social Entrepreneurship Concept: A Critical Historical Review [8], which clarified contested definitions and highlighted the uptake of marketized governance in social infrastructures. André Spicer [2], affiliated with St George's, University of London [5] and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam [6], contributed to debates on managerialism and professional compliance in neoliberal governance. His key contribution is the 2016 paper (Un)Conditional surrender? Why do professionals willingly comply with managerialism [9], which sheds light on why professionals comply with managerialism and why that matters for organizational reproduction under neoliberal regimes.