Beyond the West vs rest of world dichotomy. Introduction to a world-system approach of national innovation systems

In this paper we want to think of science, technology and innovation policies from a perspective that would transcend the West vs rest of world dichotomy. We suggest that this will help to reintroduce a critical perspective in Science and Technology Policy (STP) studies because the asymmetry of power relations will be made more salient than in the dominant but often implicit elite-framed narrative of “innovation for development”. Power is indeed in the very heart of innovation: when the latter is performed, it means that power has been unequally distributed amongst a number of actors that took part to a complex systemic process including natural resources extraction, fundamental and applied research, industrial applications and economic competitiveness leading to further benefits. With evidence from Latin America, we find that developing countries fall victim of a dominant narrative which is actually entrenched in an hegemonic structure, a consistent pattern that reflects the coloniality of power. We intend to challenge this merely ethnocentric perspective that still prevails using the theory of world-systems as a resource which enables a renewal of a critique over recent developments with national innovation systems (NIS) in so-called developing countries. We conclude by investigating what the implications would be for better STP studies to open NIS to cosmopolitan criticism.