Speaker: Stefania Sardo (Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis)
Abstract
Growing calls for sustainability transformations have attracted the attention of scholars and policy-makers towards processes aimed at deliberately terminating existing socio-technical systems. Drawing on existing empirical and conceptual research on the subject, we contribute to the foundation of a theory of discontinuation as follows. First, we promote a novel typology of discontinuation phenomena based on the key instigating agents, their relationship to the targeted systems, and the gradient of potential conflict involved, thereby identifying a clear empirical set of phenomena in need of theorization. Second, we use Schumpeterian theory and methodology to highlight the crucial analytical differences between innovation and discontinuation phenomena, motivating the need for a theory of discontinuation as an autonomous process. Third, we outline the main functional phases characterizing a discontinuation process, focusing on its less analyzed inception and bridging phases, thus providing a comprehensive understanding of the archetypical phenomenon. We use these contributions to argue that conceptualizing discontinuation as a phenomenon distinct and autonomous from innovation is crucial for analytical purposes and for developing appropriate tools to effectively govern its associated conflicts.