A Temporal Narrative View of Social Innovations: How World Central Kitchen Delivers Food Relief as “A Plate of Hope”

In this paper, we propose that a temporal narrative approach can enrich a long view of social innovation by adding depth to theorizing. Drawing on organizational research on temporality and narratives, as well as data on the trajectory of World Central Kitchen (WCK) as a social innovation of chef-led food relief, we identify two distinct types of narratives: macro narratives that connect social innovation to events of the distant and recent past and claims about the future, and micro narratives of daily work that reveal how social innovation unfolds in an ongoing present. Three temporal affordances of these narratives – braiding temporal trajectories, future-scaping, and connecting events into coherent wholes – contribute to a social innovation’s legitimation, impact, and scaling. We conclude by discussing the importance of considering the temporal situatedness of social innovations to gain a deeper understanding of their dynamics and repercussions.