Time, Innovation and Progress

Innovation seems inextricably connected with a dominant economic discourse privileging obsolescence of the old, growth and increase of wealth. However, new scholarship foregrounds the cultural and historical diversity of concepts like innovation and progress. This casts doubt on the centrality and justice of the dominant paradigm, and foregrounds ethics and humanity in innovation. Ideas on innovation and progress are entangled with beliefs about time and history. E.g., in cyclical or non-linear time, the ‘present’ does not make the past obsolete. We propose to explore this nexus between conceptions of time, innovation, and progress across cultural and historical contexts to develop a new narrative sensitive to alternative forms of innovation. The workshop brings together economists, philosophers, anthropologists, and historians. Its aims are: (1)forming a team and setting an intellectual agenda for joint research; (2) creating the conceptual basis and structure of a White Paper; (3) preparing a joint publication.

Workshop Aims
The workshop aims to:
• Revisit existing innovation theories and policy narratives.
• Explore the conceptual, analytical, and methodological foundations of a new narrative on the time–innovation–progress nexus.
• Develop perspectives that are sensitive to diversity in contexts, knowledges, and institutions.
• Foster equity, social harmony, and responsiveness to ecological limits.
• Build an international research consortium committed to long-term collaboration.