Introduction: The relevance of technologies in decline

Zahar Koretsky, Harro van Lente, Bruno Turnheim, Peter Stegmaier

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The question of how technologies decline is surprisingly fairly novel. The dominant interest in historical, economic, and sociological studies of technology has been to understand how novelty emerges and how innovation can open up new opportunities. However, during the last decades, calls for more desirable alternatives (e.g., eco-innovation, responsible innovation) are being complemented by calls for deliberately discontinuing existing systems deemed undesirable. Phasing out coal and fossil fuels has, for instance, become an important priority for climate action. We observe that prominent techno-optimistic discourses are under pressure, and existing socio-technical systems, ranging from energy production, mobility to agri-food, are increasingly under critique. As a result, many questions come to the fore: Is it possible to do away with undesirable or unsustainable technologies? If so, how? Does this necessarily involve substitution or does it involve other shifts, too? What societal, political, and industrial strategies may help to reduce our dependence to harmful technologies and socio-technical systems? Should specific products or larger systems be targeted? How can investment patterns related to harmful and polluting production be discontinued? We claim that exit or reduction objectives informed by critical discourses on technology are qualitatively different from fostering desirable innovation. It involves a different kind of phenomenon, requiring different skills, different interventions, and different kinds of thinking: decline is not just the reverse of innovation.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTechnologies in Decline
Subtitle of host publicationSocio-Technical Approaches to Discontinuation and Destabilisation
EditorsZahar Koretsky, Peter Stegmaier, Bruno Turnheim, Harro van Lente
PublisherRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter1
Pages1-12
Number of pages12
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-003-21364-2
ISBN (Print)978-1-032-10102-6, 978-1-032-10098-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • sustainability policy
  • sustainability transitions
  • technology exit
  • technology decline
  • discontinuation
  • destabilisation
  • phase-out
  • governance

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