Bridging the Gulf Between Development Theory and Innovation Theory: The Imperative of Relational Justice

Phenomena of global development and technological innovation have been theorised and debated from an evolutionary common ground of social, economic, and technical change. However, apart from this common ground, there is a gulf that needs to be bridged. In several respects, development theory is preoccupied with social values such as inclusion and equality whereas innovation theory is preoccupied with economic values of economic growth and maximisation of aggregate utility. This gulf of competing values underpins public policies which are unable to deal with modern day crises such as poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, and unsustainable development. I argue that the gulf between development and innovation theories can be critically re-thought and permanently bridged using a relational notion of social justice that can allow inclusion/equality to be affirmed without disincentivising growth/utility. Such a notion of social justice should be only concerned with equalising resources in as long as this mitigates or eliminates relational inequalities such as hierarchies, oppression, and domination in globalised societies.