Challenging Incommensurability: What We Can Learn from Ludwik Fleck for the Analysis of Configurational Innovation |
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Authors: | Alexander Peine |
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Institution: | (1) Innovation Studies, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | This paper argues that Ludwik Fleck’s concepts of thought collectives and proto-ideas are surprisingly topical to tackle some
conceptual challenges in analyzing contemporary innovation. The objective of this paper is twofold: First, it strives to establish
Ludwik Fleck as an important classic on the map of innovation analysis. A systematic comparison with Thomas Kuhn’s work on
paradigms, a concept highly influential in various branches of innovation studies, suggests a number of pronounced yet under-researched
advantages of a Fleckian perspective in the context of technological change and innovation. Secondly, the paper links these
advantages to some recent changes in the organization of innovation. Due to the rising pervasiveness of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs), configurational innovation has become commonplace that cuts across the boundaries of established trajectories
of knowledge generation. Fleck’s graded understanding of the closedness of thought collectives and his weak notion of incommensurability
provide powerful metaphors to grasp the peculiarities of configurational innovation. |
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