Beyond ‘resistance to change’: Interference management in System Innovation

This paper addresses a recurring theme in system innovation and sustainability transitions research, pertaining directly to the politics of system innovation: The issue of ‘barriers’ and ‘resistance’ to change. Framed as such, they appear as accidental and unfortunate phenomena, as obstacles on the road towards transformative change. These framings do not do justice to the multisided and contested nature of system innovation processes, however. Introducing a unidirectional ‘race-track metaphor’ (Stirling, 2011), they normatively dismiss the voices of actors experiencing interference from change attempts. Taking a more polycentric perspective, by contrast, ‘resistance to change’ can be appreciated with more nuance, through the bidirectional concept of ‘interference’. Based on four in-depth case studies into innovation attempts in the Dutch traffic management field (Pel, 2012), it is argued that alleged ‘resistance’ and ‘barriers’ are by no means accidental, but are only regular manifestations of innovations interfering with stakeholders: Interference occurs even in cases of seemingly ‘incremental’ innovation. Compared as sequences of translations (Callon, 1982, Akrich et al, 2002a,b), the cases bring forward various faces of interference. The key conclusion is that management of system innovation involves not only avoidance and reduction of interference, but also its somewhat paradoxical counterpart of interference-seeking. The term ‘interference management’ denotes the integrated handling of interference, offering both a framework for analysis and a repertoire for action

Trojan horses in System Innovation; A dialectical perspective on the paradox of acceptable novelty

Current and future sustainability challenges are increasingly acknowledged to be of a persistent and systemic nature. This gives rise to calls for likewise systemic solution strategies: Transformative system innovations instead of incremental system improvements, and societal transitions rather than procrastination on current locked-in trajectories. On these accounts, incremental change will not do. Still it proves difficult to achieve truly radical transformations. Insights from innovation theory, governance, sociology and critical theory help understand why radical transformation is unlikely to occur: Novelty, if it is to spread at all, should be acceptable to potential ‘adopters’, and should not be overly disruptive to existing practices. Initiatives should be radical enough to constitute transformative potential, but also shallow enough to be acceptable in current institutional constellations: This contradiction between transformation and non-disruption, the ‘paradox of acceptable novelty’, can be considered a key system innovation challenge. It is only paradoxical in its idealized form, however. System-innovative practices bring out various ways of dealing with the contradiction and its tradeoffs. This paper returns to the archetypical example of the more favorable case: The Trojan horse, the seemingly innocuous innovation with latent transformative force. Addressing its ambiguities, the concept’s practical relevance is elicited. Clever levers to systemic change may be devised, but inversely they may become ‘domesticated’ and neutralized. Based on a comparative case study on innovation attempts in the Dutch traffic management field, it is shown how these two faces can even alternate. The ‘incremental’ turn towards ‘network-oriented’ traffic management and the ‘radical’ call for the social sharing of space display an intriguing mixture of transformative and non-disruptive faces. Analyzed as sequences of ‘translations’, these cases help understand and deal with the ambiguities of Trojan horses. A dialectical approach to ‘acceptable novelty’ helps combine system-innovative idealism with Machiavellian agility

Interactive Metal Fatigue; A critical lens for the assessment of socio-technical reconfigurations in traffic

Interactive metal fatigue (IMF) is an elegant re-appreciation of the concept of ‘interpassivity’, describing how it develops through minifractures in subjects’ attempts to keep up with societal demands for interactivity. Other than the original art-philosophical and psychoanalytical understandings, this rather historical conceptualization opens up the ‘interpassivity’ notion to sociological and political research. Particularly promising, it will be argued, is its aptitude to diagnose and articulate the often so elusive (side-) effects of socio-technical ‘system innovations’. Currently these tend to be evaluated in terms of ‘sustainability’, but this notion seems insufficient to capture the multi-sidedness of the reconfigurations involved. Socio-technical innovations are known to be contested social changes. Yet what is it that makes them contested? How can their societal relevance be appreciated? And considering that assessment in terms of ‘sustainability impacts’ leaves certain problematic aspects underexposed, how could the notion of ‘interactive metal fatigue’ enrich our understanding of socio-technical innovations

Reconfiguring what network? (Road) network synchronization in Dutch traffic management

Current sustainability challenges are increasingly acknowledged to reveal systemic flaws in societal systems such as energy, mobility and agriculture. Adequate solutions then require system innovations and societal transitions. The quest for system innovation is notoriously hard, however: In a polycentric society systemic problems tend to be elusive, and solution strategies are contested. So whereas the quest for system innovation is typically backed by substantive analyses of system pathologies, polycentric perspectives emphasize that the intrinsic properties of an innovation attempt are hardly decisive. Innovation attempts need to be relevant to the targeted actors in the first place

System Innovation as Synchronization: innovation atempts in the Dutch traffic management field

Current sustainability challnges are increasingly acknowledged to be of a systemic nature. Instead of procrastinating further through incremental changes, societal systems (mobility, energy, agriculture) are therefore considered to be in need of system innovations and transitions. Thus far, system innovation has mainly been studied through synoptic bird's eye perspectives. This study responds to the calls for deeper investigation into system innovation 'in the making'. In a polycentric society, initiatives towards transformation are tentative, selected upon by diverse actors. Actors bend, modify and 'translate' innovation attempts. This interpretive study follows four sequences of translations in the Dutch traffic management field, and their intersections. Through 'translation dynamics' processes of system innovation can be better understood and navigated. Key dynamic is synchronization - the temporary attunement of translations that provides anchors to the translation game

Mobiliteitsbeleid als klimaatbeleid of watermanagement; zelforganisatie als aangrijpingspunt voor effectieve beleidsmatige interventies

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