Stronger Together: Frameworks for Interrogating Inequality in Science and Technology Innovation

Abstract

Over the past two decades undone science and inclusive innovation were developed to explain knowledge silos, and technology and development for marginalized communities. The undone science framework describes the systematic neglect of scientific issues that impact marginalized groups. Inclusive innovation framework emphasizes the need to produce innovations that directly benefit marginalized groups. Despite the similar goals of the frameworks, the undone science and inclusive innovation theoretical communities have not interacted with each other, and as a result, the insights from each framework fail to help other disciplines improve opportunities for marginalized groups. This paper compares the frameworks and shows how they can help development scholars and practitioners create better policies for marginalized groups. Because the frameworks emphasis slightly different issues, we believe that these two theoretical frameworks are stronger together.

Keywords: poverty, inequality, inclusive innovation, undone science, undone technology, science and technology policy, international development