Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Discursive Innovation Studies delves into the pivotal role of language and discourse in shaping how society and organisations conceptualize and institutionalize innovation management. This contributed volume applies discursive institutionalism to explore how societal goals of responsibility and sustainability intersect—and often clash—with corporate logics centred on profit and growth. Through a discourse-centred lens, the book examines how competing narratives reshape institutions, providing a deeper understanding of the tensions between ethics and economics in the pursuit of innovation.
Bringing together contributions from leading scholars, this volume addresses critical questions about the language of sustainability and responsibility in business, government, and academia. It investigates how discourse legitimizes practices, navigates regulatory landscapes, and shapes the rhetorical strategies of key actors in the field. By focusing on discourse as a driver of organisational change, the authors offer both theoretical and practical insights into bridging societal priorities with corporate imperatives. Essential for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, it provides a comprehensive exploration of discursive approaches to responsible and sustainable innovation.
Technology alone never earns trust - the stories we tell about it do. This book shows how discourse shapes responsible innovation and gives leaders in policy and business a practical language for it.
— Harald Leitenmüller, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Österreich GmbH
A genuinely field-founding book by outstanding scholars. It shows that innovation is always talked into being and establishes Discursive Innovation Studies as an indispensable new research agenda for innovation research, policy and management.
— René von Schomberg, Senior Research Fellow RWTH Aachen University and Former Official European Commission
This book is a timely and thought-provoking contribution to innovation research. It sheds light on the often-overlooked microfoundations of innovation by showing how discourse shapes the shared meanings, expectations, and legitimacy.
— Marcel Borgers, Professor of Open and Collaborative Innovation at Eindhoven University of Technology
André Martinuzzi is the founder and head of the Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.
Svetlana Ivanova is a Teaching and research assistant at the Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.
Introduction to Discursive Innovation Studies; André Martinuzzi and Svetlana Ivanova
Chapter 1. Discursive Institutional Theory in Political Science; Vivien A. Schmidt
Chapter 2. Discursive Perspectives in Innovation Theories, Models and Instruments; Svetlana Ivanova
Chapter 3. Innovation Work: Discourse, Meaning, and the Social Construction of Innovation; Masoom Suchdeo and Nelson Phillips
Chapter 4. Innovation, Interessement and the Cornering of the Future; Richard Owen, David Evans, and Keri Facer
Chapter 5. Discursive Engagement of Tensions and Paradoxes in Corporate Sustainability and Innovation; Guowei Jian, Gail T. Fairhurst, and Linda L. Putnam
Chapter 6. Metaphors of Innovation and Responsibility; Claudio Biscaro, Katharina Zangerle, and Georg Reischauer
Chapter 7. Risk, Precaution, and Responsibility: Discourses Shaping Deliberations over Incumbent and Emerging Technologies; Jarryd Daymond and Steve Maguire
Chapter 8. Discursive Change for Innovation in Response to Climate Risk: A Dialogical Approach; David Grant and Jaco Fourie
Chapter 9. Insights and Reflections on the Rhetoric of AI and Its Ethical Implications for Society; Yuan Li
Chapter 10. The Future of Discursive Innovation Studies: A Research Agenda; André Martinuzzi and Svetlana Ivanova