Transforming the system to face grand challenges by experimenting with "pragmatic" utopias: the case of the "Zero Long-Term Unemployment Territories"

Transformer le système face aux grands challenges par l'expérimentation d'utopies « pragmatiques »: le cas des Territoires Zéro Chômeurs Longue Durée

Mathias Guérineau (), Julien Kleszczowski () and Julie C. Mayer
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Mathias Guérineau: LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Nantes Univ - IAE Nantes - Nantes Université - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Sociétés - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université, CRG I3 - Centre de recherche en gestion I3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Julien Kleszczowski: IAE Lille - IAE Lille University School of Management - Lille - Université de Lille, CRG I3 - Centre de recherche en gestion I3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LUMEN - Lille University Management Lab - ULR 4999 - Université de Lille
Julie C. Mayer: CRG I3 - Centre de recherche en gestion I3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris

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Abstract: At a time when the societal challenges described by the notion of 'grand challenges' call for a radical rethinking of organised collective action, the literature is still struggling to generate normative practices and modes of action that lead to system transformation. This article draws on the perspective of transformative social innovation to define 'pragmatic utopia' as collective action that consists of experimenting with a utopia while transforming the system in an iterative and multivocal way. We study the case of the Territoire Zéro Chômeur de Longue Durée experiment as a pragmatic utopia aimed at eradicating unemployment through a radically different approach to employment. Our analysis shows that the ability of such a utopia to challenge the system and lay the foundations for a more structural transformation depends on the ability of the actors involved to manage the tensions arising from the complex, uncertain and evaluative nature of the major challenge being addressed.

Keywords: Grand Challenge; Utopia; expérimentation; social innovation; Utopie; innovation sociale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-05-31
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-inv
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04147166v1
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Published in XXXIème conférence de l’AIMS, May 2022, Annecy, France

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