Universität Wien

233030 VO Politics of Innovation and its Institutional Dimensions: Central Issues, Questions and Concepts (2023S)

Central Issues, Questions and Concepts

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 07.03. 14:15 - 16:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien (Kickoff Class)
  • Thursday 09.03. 09:15 - 11:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 23.03. 09:15 - 11:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 28.03. 14:15 - 16:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 18.04. 14:15 - 16:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 20.04. 09:15 - 11:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 02.05. 14:15 - 16:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Thursday 04.05. 09:15 - 11:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 16.05. 14:15 - 16:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 23.05. 14:15 - 16:15 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Talk of 'innovation' has proliferated in the past decades: it is core to political programmes and economic growth strategies (such as Horizon Europe) as well as marketing efforts of firms and tactics of social movements. It has also entered the core of many academic fields. While today we have gotten used to thinking of innovation as central to societal developments, this is not self-evident in historical perspective. Back in 17th century, innovation had the meaning of political change, reform and revolution and 'novelty' was suspicious (Godin 2014).
This is quite contrary to today’s understanding of innovation as central to the creation of wealth, well being and (sometimes even) survival. This lecture starts by discussing the very meaning of the notion of innovation, its rise and proliferation, its relation to diverse forms of knowledge generation and exchange and the many different facets institutional framework conditions (e.g. for funding, measuring or owning innovation) that societies have created to foster and stabilise this view. Amongst others, we will explore different attempts to steer innovation to serve societal needs better. Taking into account the broader societal context, we will also address in detail how the dominant understanding of innovation as technological innovation for the market developed and stabilised during the 20th century, e.g. by institutionalising science and innovation statistics and fields like 'innovation studies'. We further discuss, how alternative concepts of innovation struggle to gain (political) legitimacy (e.g. 'frugal innovation' or 'social innovation'), how digitization matters in this context and how economic conceptualisations such as the ‘circular eceonomy’ matter for innovation.
The aim of the course is to engage with innovation from different perspectives and learn to understand it as standing in a co-productive relationship with societal (institutional, political, economic, cultural, etc.) change.
The lecture (VO) does so via talks by the lecturer, but also by interactive discussions, brainstorming, or reflections on contemporary representations (e.g. videos) of innovation policies. The discussion class (KO) takes up and reflects the topics of the lecture. It does so along readings of scientific texts and engaging with diverse other forms of input, mostly in the framework of teamwork-based debate.

Assessment and permitted materials

The final grade will be based on an oral exam. Registration for the exam via u:space is obligatory. Questions will be based on the oral lectures given, the pdfs of the slides available on the e-learning platform as well as the texts to be read. So even if you only take the lecture class and not together with the discussion class, you have to do the reading for the exam!

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The examination for the lecture will be graded on a scale of 1 to 5.

Examination topics

Questions will be based on the oral lectures given, the pdfs of the slides available on the e-learning platform as well as the texts to be read. Students are expected to develop a thorough understanding of the concepts introduced, and a qualified overview of the fields of research surveyed in the lecture. A list of questions will be made available in the course of the semester.

Reading list


Association in the course directory

MA HPS neu: Modul 1.1, Modul 1.2, Modul 1.3

Last modified: Th 30.11.2023 14:28