Innovation Contested: The Idea of Innovation Over the Centuries

by Benoît Godin

Innovation is everywhere. In the world of goods (technology), but also in the world of innovation is discussed in the scientific and technical literature, but also in the social sciences and humanities. Innovation is also a central idea in the popular imaginary, in the media and in public policy. Innovation has become the emblem of the modern society and a panacea for resolving many problems.



Today, innovation is spontaneously understood as technological innovation because of its contribution to economic progress. Yet for 2,500 years, innovation had nothing to do with economics in a positive sense. Innovation was pejorative and political. It was a contested idea in philosophy, religion, politics and social affairs. Innovation only got de-contested in the last century. This occurred gradually beginning after the French revolution. Innovation shifted from a vice to a virtue. Innovation became an instrument for achieving political and social goals.



In this book, Beno�t Godin lucidly examines the representations and meaning(s) of innovation over time, its diverse uses, and the contexts in which the concept emerged and changed. This history is organized around three periods or episteme : the prohibition episteme , the instrument episteme , and the value episteme .

Genres: History

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 9, 2015

About the author

Benoît Godin is a Professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Montreal.

Reviews

[Odysseas Spyroglou]

We tent to believe that innovation was always considered a positively, however this is not true. Godin follows the evolution and transformation of the concept of innovation from antiquity to today. This book is not about innovation per se, but rather about how societies feel and talk about innovation.

The central idea of the book is that Innovation is not a neutral, timeless, or merely technical concept but rather a historically rich term that evolved and transformed from a pejorative and negative term in the antiquities associated with disruption of divine, natural, or social order into a celebrated idea that is a driver for national pride, growth and economic prosperity.