Abstract

GARCIA, José Luís. A Crucial Task for the Political Economy: A Critique of Techno-liberal Innovation. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais [online]. 2019, n.119, pp.171-198. ISSN 2182-7435.  https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.9316.

The article undertakes a criticism of innovation, which since the late 20^th century, is seen as driving the great project of societies. The text presents two main contributions to clarify what is at stake. The first consists of arguing that the inclination toward innovation is an economic policy of a neoliberal nature whose objective is to increase productivity and profits through the annexation of science and technology, thus opening the way for markets to enter new dimensions of the natural world and human life. The second suggests that the project of innovation is a new manifestation of historicism, namely, techno-liberal historicism. The article concludes with a defence of the need to assess the policies of innovation according to those values adequate for achieving socially equitable and ecologically viable ends.

Keywords : economy of knowledge; historicism; innovation policy; neoliberalism; technological innovation.

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