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Short abstract:

Despite targeting social challenges, Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) does not explicitly engage with justice concerns. We propose a framework to address this gap by exploring the justice directionality and the transformativity (in terms of socio-economic directionality) of TIP.

Long abstract:

Transformative innovation policies (TIP) have emerged as a response to “wicked problems” and build upon literature of mission-oriented policies, innovation and transition studies. Despite targeting social challenges, an explicit engagement with the concept of justice is lacking in TIP literature. In order to widen the scope of how justice can be integrated into TIP, we describe two narratives of justice and two narratives of societal transformation. This conceptual paper outlines a framework to examine the justice dimensions of TIP (in terms of weak and strong justice directionality) and the transformativity of TIP (in terms of weak and strong socio-economic directionality). We believe that this framework helps to explicate that in many cases, there are no “win-win” scenarios, but that “doing” TIP in just and transformative ways requires navigating a number of “traps”. Explicitly exposing and engaging in these discussions and biases, in research and policy, is crucial for a more transparent and open debate on the realistic achievements of different approaches to TIP in promoting justice. In our discussion, we point to challenges and opportunities that revolve around a number of cross-cutting issues, such as accounting and assessing for justice in TIP and exploring alternative economies through TIP. Importantly, it is essential to acknowledge that missions and transformative innovation policies that support them are inherently political, and involve several trade-offs, tensions and conflict that have often translocal dynamics of injustice (including potential impacts on Global South).