Innovation: The new Big Push or the Post-Development alternative?

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to raise a question rather than to provide an answer. The topic of the question is the sudden popularity of the term ‘innovation’ in the development discourse – even though the term is used in a fuzzy manner, and without any attempt at agreeing on a clear definition. To interpret the impact of this term, I draw attention to two other terms that were prominent in the development literature at earlier times: Big Push and Post-Development. Early on, a Big Push was presented as the solution for underdeveloped countries; it became more than a concept, as a code word for the aid industry. Failure and lasting challenges generating several critiques, of which I single out Post-Development theory as the one that challenged both the paradigm and the performance of mainstream development. This article seeks to provoke a discussion of whether innovation is the new orthodoxy, that is, the pursuit of conventional development by other means, or whether it has the potential of forming a new critique, a basis for rethinking and recasting development.