Women: Beyond Social Responsibility and Toward Social Innovation for a Sustainable Society. Lesson from the Past

This chapter aims to underline the contribution of women in developing social consciousness, responsibility, and preserving the social and cultural framework of the society, through their direct involvement in managing activities aimed to solve and prevent economic and social plagues. Adopting a historical perspective, the research design is based on the analysis of an Italian organization—devoted to maternal help and infant care—that since the beginning of the nineteenth century was aimed at protecting illegitimate motherhood and children. The empirical study—based on an institution tackling social plagues over a century— helps to understand if women’s role was mainly “hidden” or externally recognized and appreciated for contributing to promote social change in the internal and external context.