Innovation as Social Action

The paper explicates the concept of innovation through the lens of social action. It is argued that the term ‘innovation’ carries within it certain semantic contradictions that cannot be resolved without recourse to the theory of social action underlying the process of innovation. By revisiting a number extant concepts and applications within innovation studies and unpacking these in the light of functionalist and conflict theoretical notions of social action, paradoxes as well as fruitful paths for empirical and analytical exploration are identified. A synthesis of how innovation may be interpreted in the language of social action is suggested, which builds on the dialectics between action as mental activity and physical work.