Mareike Smolka received Amsterdamska Award for edited collection on responsible innovation

KTI researcher and teacher Mareike Smolka received the Amsterdamska Award from the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) for the collection on “Critique in, for, with and of Responsible Innovation” co-edited by Tess Doezema (University of Vigo) and Lucien von Schomberg (University of Greenwich) and published in the Journal of Responsible Innovation. The award is made each year for a significant creative collaboration in an edited book or special issue in the field of Science & Technology Studies (STS).

The edited collection engages with critique theoretically, empirically, and pedagogically to shed new light on the theme of responsible innovation. STS researchers working within this theme often find themselves caught up in a double bind: critique tends to be curtailed if it engages with regimes that it seeks to challenge.

Has responsible innovation lost its teeth?

The mainstreaming of responsible innovation may have curbed its original agenda to critique dominant technocratic and economic regimes. Promoted by influential international organizations, embedded in curricula at business schools, and appropriated by offices of business conduct in large corporations, responsible innovation seems to have lost its teeth.

Critique still drives responsible innovation

Whether critique “has run out of steam” or is more necessary than ever due to blatant irresponsibility in technoscientific contexts is an ongoing debate in STS and beyond. The collection launches an original intervention into the debate. Its article contributions exemplify different modes through which critique inserts itself into diverse forms of inquiry, indicating that this plurality is “a strong engine” driving responsible innovation.

Interdisciplinary and inclusive

The collection is inclusive and interdisciplinary, bringing together established scholars and early career researchers, while also connecting research in educational settings, technology and infrastructure development, scientific labs, and innovation governance.

The announcement of the award was published in the latest edition of the EASST Review.