The object of this study is to clarify the meanings and uses of social innovation in contemporary societies. The author makes use of the forms of analysis provided by theories of social change and the multi-disciplinary, long-term approach that is associated with 'Big History', with its focus on evidence and insights from different scientific and historical disciplines, together with empirical resources that are employed in advanced countries and societies in the construction of innovative environments. For contemporary societies, social innovation is a concept that is present in a wide variety of experiences and in multiple situations. Historically, it has been seen as related to a capacity for social experimentation, collective learning, the creation of knowledge and the ability to transfer it. Today, it is associated with a range of experiences, dimensions and fields within the language of management and economics, and in the social and productive uses of technology. Civic organisations of different kinds, public institutions and social movements are all aware of its importance, and repeatedly assert its significance. They associate it with risk, with uncertainty and with a role as an instrument for the reinvention of the ethics of capitalism. It is through this humanistic process that social innovation creates contexts and conditions that can improve the future of society in general.