Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies

by Calestous Juma

It is a curious situation that technologies we now take for granted have, when first introduced, so often stoked public controversy and concern for public welfare. At the root of this tension is the perception that the benefits of new technologies will accrue only to small sections of society, while the risks will be more widely distributed. Drawing from nearly 600 years of technology history, Calestous Juma identifies the tension between the need for innovation and the pressure to maintain continuity, social order, and stability as one of today's biggest policy challenges. He reveals the extent to which modern technological controversies grow out of distrust in public and private institutions and shows how new technologies emerge, take root, and create new institutional ecologies that favor their establishment in the marketplace. Innovation and Its Enemies calls upon public leaders to work with scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to manage technological change and expand public engagement on scientific and technological matters.

Genres: Technology, Business, Nonfiction, History, Economics, Science, Sociology

430 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2016

About the author

From Wikipedia: Calestous Juma is an internationally recognised authority in the application of science and technology to sustainable development worldwide. He was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by the New African magazine. He is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program] at Harvard Kennedy School. Juma is Director of the School's Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School as well as the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

More info can be found here:
http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFic...

Reviews

[Kourosh Keshavarz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately it was a great let down.

To be clear. The book is well researched and very detailed, however it is not so much a book but a series of scholarly articles. This is not the sort of book you can keep on your shelf and refer to, but rather more of a study material book for a student.

The author writes each chapter detailing the history of one item such as coffee. This was the first downfall. I expected the book to detail more recent and relevant technologies. There were some of these but not till the last few chapters. The second problem with this format was I couldn't ever grasp the core points that were being made. For a book to be successful as a reference I expected each chapter to focus on a single point such as "Chapter 1 - the loss of continuity" and then use various examples to make the point. The whole thing was done in reverse. Even at the conclusion of each chapter, there were lessons learned but instead of being in some sort of bullet point format they were detailed paragraphs which meant you had to really delve in to identify what you were looking for.

As I mentioned, this is not a great reference book if you are in the field of Change management, however if you are teaching a class or in one you could use this as another text book.

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vier-Sterne-Anfang, die Fallbeispiele waren interessant und zur Abwechslung auch mal aus dem arabischen Raum. In der zweiten Hälfte ist mein Interesse leider erlahmt, aber das kann auch an mir gelegen haben, konkret habe ich dem Buch nichts vorzuwerfen. Für die erste Hälfte hat es sich aber gelohnt.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innovation and its Enemies by Calestous Juma is an engaging read about the distinctly fast pace of innovations in technology and the conflicts between the development and acceptance of them. Juma discusses valid points regarding the many concerns that come into play when a new technology arises. Matters such as risks to moral values, human health, and environmental safety. However, Juma also brings to light that many of these so-called “risks” are not risks, but the perception of risks, not necessarily the impact of the risks themselves. Many of the controversies surrounding the debate of innovation stem from tensions between the need to create something new and the expectation to maintain cohesion, social order, and dependability (Juma, 2016). Many of these controversies are surfacing because we are in an age of growing public distrust in not only public but private institutions (Juma, 2016). People these days are so turned off by anything new that could potentially have a negative effect, even if that negative effect is very short lived. Juma writes “...society is most likely to oppose a new technology if it perceives that the risks are likely to occur in the short run and the benefits will only accrue in the long run” (Juma, 2016, p. 7). These days, in the era of Digital Natives people, are so used having what the want at their finger-tips, if the positive outcome isn’t immediate, the innovation loses its shine (Prensky, 2010).
Chapter one of Juma’s book provides a structure for recognizing the connections between social chains and innovation in the technology field. Discussions of critical global challenges such as sustainability, health, security, life enrichment as well as the importance of skepticism and the acceptance of the innovations take place throughout this first chapter. “The fear of loss, not novelty, underlies social tension over technologies, some of which takes the form of outright opposition by segments of society against change. Fear of loss can lead individuals or groups to avoid change brought by innovation if that means forgoing gains”(Juma, 2016, p. 11)Click and drag to move. Social structures can have a significant impact in moments of change depending on the assumed risks and psychological factors that are presumed to affect society which Juma discusses in detail throughout the chapter.
Chapters two through ten each focus on the introduction of new technology during a challenging time in history and the struggles that came with it. Discussed in detail are the tensions surrounding the implication of the newly introduced technology for the following historical instances; coffee, printing press, margarine, farm mechanization, electricity, mechanical, refrigeration, recorded music, transgenic crops, and transgenic salmon. Most of the innovations discussed revolve around the common theme of agriculture because of his background and early life experiences growing up in Kenya. Throughout these chapters, Juma explains the research and substance behind these new developments as well as how society has attempted to degrade and limit the use of them, and efforts to ban them altogether.
In the final chapter of the book, Juma discusses important conclusions and the lessons learned from the previously discussed case studies. Juma recognizes a need for a change in the mindset of society to keep moving forward with technological advancements. He places a chunk of responsibility on politicians and their ability to make deliberate decisions when introducing and vetting new technology. “The process helps society to identify areas of common interest and learn how to share risks and benefits” (Juma, 2016, p. 282). It is important to recognize that this book is that it is not intended to pass judgment on the safety and risks of current and past innovations or to place blame on the failure of an innovation, but to learn from the historical instances discussed in order to be able to meet the tensions head on and combat the situation. Much of resistance comes from people’s fear of disturbing the status quo and fear of failure. Knowing how to address these concerns with the public is crucial for gaining the trust and acceptance of new technology. Juma does an excellent job in providing detailed examples and explanations for the reason behind the tensions and reminds us that change must start somewhere by saying that “opponents of innovation hark back to traditions as if traditions themselves were not inventions at some point in the past” (Juma, 2016, p. 309).
Given that Juma grew up in Kenya and lived through many struggles utilizing agricultural development and a lack of resources, it makes sense that his book has a focus on agricultural development. Living first hand through the need for change and development makes for an apparent reason for this passion around the topic. Juma from an early age valued education and obtained several degrees in science and technology policy from the University of Sussex along with a few others. He became a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and continued to integrate his passions into his teachings (Tong, 2017). He was recognized for many awards and accomplishments throughout his lifetime, including winning the 2017 Breakthrough Paradigm Award and the 2014 Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize. He was also inducted into the United States National Academy of Sciences, the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of London, and the African Academy of Sciences (Tong, 2017). Calestous Juma died at the age of 64 on December 15, 2017.

References
Juma, C. (2016). Innovation and its enemies: Why people resist new technologies. [Kindle DX ]. http://dx.doi.org/978-0-19-046705

Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning. [Kindle ]. http://dx.doi.org/LB1027.23.P74

Tong, S. W. (2017, December 20). Kennedy School professor Calestous Juma dies at 64. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved from https://www.thecrimson.com/article/20...

[Anasua Mukherjee Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies [Book Review] . Journal of Scientometric Research, 2016, 5(2), 173-174. http://jscires.org/article/164

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book, with lots of examples. Helps you understand how science and technology must include social institutions to increase the probability of social acceptance of their innovations.

[Jari Parantainen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tämä oli kyllä ihan vakuuttavaa kamaa, mutta tylsää ja akateemista. Tuntui, ettei kirjailija pääse asiaan kohtuuajassa. Piti luovuttaa kesken.

[Paul Sand · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]

I picked up this book (from Wellesley College Library via UNH Interlibrary Loan) because it appeared in this short video from Adam Thierer showing the books that "had the greatest influence" on his thoughts about "technological innovation/progress". And there it is, between Virginia Postrel's The Future and its Enemies and Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now. It isn't quite what I was expecting, and it doesn't quite live up to those illustrious neighbors, but that's OK.

I was discouraged by the first chapter where the author, Calestous Juma (originally from Kenya), provides a general essay about innovative products and services, and the forces that they might be up against. Schumpeter's famous insights about "creative destruction" are examined and expanded upon. This intro is vague and (frankly) Juma doesn't have an interesting prose style.

Worse, when discussing the late 19th-century fracas between British old-style "practical electricians" and the young whippersnappers designing things by working out the implications of Maxwell's equations of electrodynamics, Juma states the old fogies "believed that electricity flows through wires the way water flowed through pipes" and the upstarts "showed" that "electricity flowed in a field around the conducting wire".

Um. Well, electrons do flow through a wire. Not like water, but even so: the standard measure of electric current, the ampere, is about 6.2x1018 electrons going past a point every second.

The Maxwell-described field surrounding a current-conducting wire is a magnetic field, not "electricity". No flowing involved there.

(I got the first edition of the book; I notice there's a newer edition, and this might have been fixed.)

But (good news) once I got past the first chapter, things improved markedly. Juma looks at nine case studies, from history up to the present, one per chapter: the introduction of coffee to the West; the Ottoman Empire's prohibition against use of the printing press to reproduce Islamic religious texts; margarine; farm machinery; electricity (the AC/DC wars); mechanical refrigeration; recorded music; transgenic crops; and, finally, AquAdvantage salmon.

Juma does a great job in recounting history, and he's relentlessly fair in looking at the opposition to each innovation. Bending over backwards at times, I'd say. Readers expecting a screed against the reactionaries impeding technological progress will be disappointed. An exception is that chapter about the salmon; Juma describes the "frankenfish" opposition as masterfully using the tools of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. (The AquAdvantage salmon was developed in 1989; thanks to the obstructionism, its first US sales were in 2021.)

Fun facts abound. In Germany, coffee was going up against Big Beer (or, I guess, "Großes Bier"). Which pointed out that coffee had no nutritional value, and beer was, of course, liquid bread. Coffee interests responded by mixing soup in with their brew. As Juma reports with a straight face: this didn't catch on.

In discussing the impact of the printing press, Juma notes perhaps the earliest occurrence of what we now call the Streisand Effect. The church used the press to produce posters listing all the books that needed to be burned. "This inadvertently served as advertising as people went out and bought the books."

So it's a mixed bag, but mostly good. If you get the revised edition, let me know if that electricity thing has been fixed.

[Kalle Wescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read /Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies/, by Calestous Juma:

https://networks.h-net.org/node/9782/...

I've been reading books in categories... for example, I've read all the books on happiness I could find. Now, I'm reading all the books that I haven't yet read on innovation.

For the most part, I don't need to know about innovation, why it's good, or how to encourage it in a large enterprise. I'm interested in the stories of innovation, with inventors and entrepreneurs changing the world. How did they conceive of their invention, discovery, product, or service? What challenges did they have? How and why did they success or fail?

I know most of the stories of success and many of the ones of failure by now, so most of the innovation books no longer have much to impart upon me.

However, this book was amazing, and 90% of the book is completely original, invoking well-researched case studies from history, beginning many centuries ago with coffee (and chocolate, and tea, and alcohol), and the printing press, and coming towards the present with margarine, farm mechanization, electricity, mechanical refrigeration, recorded music, transgenic crops, and transgenic animals.

Somewhat like Kurzweil in his books, bit by bit, Juma is providing context and background to support a point that he's making. A review from Harvard summarizes this better than I could have:

"The book uses these lessons from history to contextualize contemporary debates surrounding technologies such as artificial intelligence, online learning, 3D printing, gene editing, robotics, drones, and renewable energy. It ultimately makes the case for shifting greater responsibility to public leaders to work with scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to manage technological change, make associated institutional adjustments, and expand public engagement on scientific and technological matters."

[Mario Dumouchel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about some of history's innovations and how they shaped societies perception of them. The book chooses some interesting products to highlight and ties the theme of resistance of the technology from different angles. My favourite chapter was the one about coffee, which might be the author's favourite as well because he comes back to it more into the final chapter which kind of takes away from the other chapters a bit when he couldn't circle back to them in the final conclusion. The chapter on transgenic plants seemed to drag on a bit and I think would've benefited if it were tied to the more interesting chapter of transgenic fish and talked about the whole transgenic technology as a whole rather than separating the two. The final chapter had nuggets of other interesting technologies (ie. gender equality and aviation) that I wish were expanded upon, even if given just two pages on the subject (rather than a paragraph) to go over some other societal biases that might have an influence over public perception. The author does address that the resistances did not arise in a vacuum and it was a great relief to read someone who isn't gung-ho on technology for technology's sake like a tech bro. More an advocate for innovation in all its forms (ecological, economical, humanitarian, etc). A great read on the history of people's interaction with changes in tech.

[Fred Ledley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book, which should be required reading for optimistic innovators and those believing that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it! (George Santayana, 1905.) The book comprises a series of chapters describing innovations that elicited hostile reactions from the public, corporations, or governments due to their perceived threat to the status quo. Chapters focused on the opposition to innovations ranging from coffee and margine to the mechanization of farming and refrigeration eirily presage the form of contemporary opposition to innovations such as transgenic crops, genetically engineered salmon, and mRNA vaccines. This book is essential reading for innovators and entrepreneurs who may recognize the potential benefits of novel technologies, but fail to recognize how they may be seen as a threat to received structures and behaviors. While the opposition to innovation may often appear to be irrational, it is often orchestrated by those who recognize the threats of disruption or creative destruction, and envision the conflict as a fight for survival.

[Karin Bodewits · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent book takes you on a journey through the histories of margarine, coffee, transgenic crops, super salmon and various other innovations that people tried to stop (or successfully stopped) in the past. It gives you a deep understanding as to why innovations are being fought by policy and law makers, the public and competitors. Again, this book showed me how important it is to communicate science and innovation to the public in the early stages of development. Though the first 30-50 pages of the book are rather difficult to read, you will be rewarded quickly.-A must read for every scientist!-

[Taylor Barkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve read on tech, innovation, and public policy. It’s basically the story of various technologies and the lessons we can derive from their introduction. Original research, clearly written, and interesting, from an author who clearly knows what he’s taking about after years in the space. It’s very sad that he passed away recently! I will probably re-read the first chapter many times.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting collection of research papers/essays held together by the common theme of innovation and, more particularly, the author's interpretation of the governmental and public responses to the innovation. I thought the book was overall well-researched and presented in an interesting manner.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be useful for thinking about tech acceptance. We do tend to think of tech progress as inevitable, but history shows that is not the case. Juma's examples going back in time to coffee and printing were really interesting. Now someone should write a follow on book that explores some examples where a society chose not to embrace a technology at all.

[Haig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone working in strategies for emerging technology. Juma's cautionary tales of historic moments when technologies have not been adopted gives the reader perspective into why we may be resisting technologies today.

[Tom Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beneficial case studies to understand how different innovations impact the world in different ways. I liked how the book was structured with conclusions at the end of each chapter. Can cross off my AI list

[Francisco Ebeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular!

[Jackson Makene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profoundly illuminating.

[Ronald J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Introduction summarizes this rich book nicely: “The quickest way to find out who your enemies are is to try doing something new. This book explores the dynamics of social opposition to innovation. Joseph Schumpeter identified innovation as the central force in economic transformation.” The author served as executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and “observed great divergence among countries in the way they perceived the risks and benefits of a new technology. Here’s his summary:
• In the United States products are safe until proven risky.
• In France products are risky until proven safe.
• In the United Kingdom products are risky even when proven safe.
• In India products are safe even when proven risky. I
• n Canada products are neither safe nor risky.
• In Japan products are either safe or risky.
• In Brazil products are both safe and risky.
• In sub-Saharan Africa products are risky even if they do not exist.

The author argues “that technological controversies often arise from tensions between the need to innovate and the pressure to maintain continuity, social order, and stability. Managing the interactions between change and continuity remains one of the most critical functions of government.” I’m not sure I agree that that’s one of the most critical functions of government. I would say it is protecting our rights. Government will default to protect the status quo (the author puts it this way: “Maintenance of continuity is the final function of institutions.” The author presents many examples of technological innovation, how and why they were resisted, and their ultimate diffusion throughout society: Coffee (an unbelievably rich chapter on a topic you might think is banal. It’s not; fascinating is more accurate); the printing press; margarine; tractors (wild resistance from horse and veterinarian interests); electricity (Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever. THOMAS EDISON); mechanical refrigeration; recorded sound; transgenic crops; and, finally, AquAdvantage Salmon.

If you enjoy the history of innovation, this is a comprehensive book, and well documented (22% of it is endnotes and Index). It’s a long read, and in places contains too much detail, but it will give you an excellent look at just how difficult it is to bring a disruptive innovation to society, and how the defenders of the status quo can slow it down, sometimes considerably.

Notable

New ideas are not only the enemy of old ones; they also appear often in an extremely unacceptable form. CARL GUSTAV JUNG

People are very open-minded about new things—as long as they’re exactly like the old ones. CHARLES KETTERING

“In 1591 Queen Elizabeth made a spirited effort to revive archery by issuing a decree prohibiting those games that were not essential for the defense of the country. She also decreed that “such poor men whose stay of living with their whole families do chiefly depend thereon, as bowyers, fletchers, stringers, arrowhead makers, being many in number throughout the realm, may be maintained and set to work according to their vocations.”

Every great movement must experience three stages: Ridicule, discussion, adoption. John Stuart Mill

If another Messiah was born he could hardly do so much good as the printing-press. GEORG C. LICHTENBERG

Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome. SAMUEL JOHNSON
If you risk nothing, then you risk everything. GEENA DAVIS

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go. T. S. ELIOT
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. JOHN CAGE

“Red Flag Acts enacted in the UK in the 1860s–1890s. The intent of the laws was to regulate vehicles on public roads in the name of public safety. The laws severely restricted the speed at which vehicles could travel and required a man with a red flag to walk ahead of any vehicle connected to two or more cars.”

[Julius · Rating 5 out of 5]

En esta obra se narran varios casos de tecnología que intentó ser frenada por algunas manos negras, pero que terminaron imponiéndose al final, por mejorar claramente la vida de los ciudadanos. Es el caso del café, del tractor, de la corriente alterna,... entre otros inventos.

El libro me ha gustado y es entretenido para cualquier fan de divulgación científica, ya que la mezcla de contexto histórico, decisiones políticas y ciencia es una mezcla muy atractiva para pasar un buen rato entretenido y ver el presente tecnológico con cierta perspectiva.

[Mathis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is bringing together knowledge from the past 40 years on social processes accompanying the introduction of innovation. It defines and categorizes clearly influential factors and modes of social interaction. The case studies are very helpful and well written.

[Mills College Library]

338.064 J948 2016