Jon P KNUDSEN, University of Agder, Norway
One of the striking features of our times is the crisis of the global world order. The end of the 20th century brought an end to the cold war. The following decades witnessed the expansion of Anglo-American capitalism to a seemingly uncontested global hegemony. Accompanying this development, the notion of innovation permeated the social sciences. Geography was no exception. Largely neglecting the historical warnings about the dark sides of innovation, the bandwagon-like triumph of its gospel became obvious in politics as in academia. While many national and international policy agendas continue to be dominated by various aspects of its message, innovate or perish, the institutional support for its expansion has suddenly begun to fail. The most remarkable manifestation of this evolvement is the political unrest unfolding inside the main policies upholding and maintaining the liberal market economies (LMEs), the UK and the US. The consequences have already become felt as an increased instability in global regulatory systems, economically as politically. At the same time a renewed interest in different takes on social change and renewal should be remarked. Scholars inter alia take up largescale in-depth geographical and historical studies to search for alternative sources of inspiration for moving forwards. The French saying "plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose" seems to describe the insights guiding many of these scholars. One of the most interesting of the contributors to this tradition is the French historical demographer, Emmanuel Todd. In this paper I draw on his theories to argue that social change can be better catered for within specific geographical and historical traditions, where these are considered legitimate, than in a general (post-)Schumpeterian context of disruptive or radical innovation.
Mots clés : Creative continuity|Innovation|Variety of Capitalism|Emmanuel Todd
A105510JK