| Abstract: | Innovation discourse in contemporary India remains dominated by formal R&D systems, start-up ecosystems, and patent-driven entrepreneurship, often marginalising women’s informal knowledge practices. However, women across rural and semi-urban contexts generate context-specific innovations rooted in embodied labour, ecological adaptation, and livelihood necessity. These innovations enhance productivity and sustainability but frequently encounter structural barriers to institutional legitimacy. This paper examines how women-led grassroots innovations transition from informal problem-solving to institutional recognition through intermediary networks such as the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), GIAN, and SRISTI. Drawing on qualitative document analysis of institutional award compendiums, databases, and published case studies, the study develops a five-stage relational framework that integrates innovation systems theory, feminist political economy, recognition theory, and the sociology of expectations. The analysis demonstrates that institutional recognition operates as a structured and uneven process of mediation. While validation confers visibility, symbolic capital, and network access, it simultaneously filters and reframes grassroots knowledge according to dominant logics of scalability, regulatory compliance, and market alignment. Recognition thus redistributes authority within gendered innovation fields rather than functioning as a neutral endorsement mechanism. By conceptualising recognition as a power-embedded process, the paper advances a gendered innovation systems perspective and highlights the need for reflexive validation protocols that can decentralise knowledge hierarchies. The findings contribute to debates on inclusive innovation by foregrounding thepolitics of legitimacy that shape which knowledge becomes visible, valued, and sustained within contemporary innovation ecosystems. |
