Critical Review of «The Innovation Delusion»

How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most (Vinsel & Russell, 2020)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.i7.102433

Keywords:

Critical Studies of Innovation, Innovation Speak, Maintenance, Lee Vinsel, Andrew Russell, Innovation Delusion, The Maintainers, United States, Steve Shapin, David Edgerton, Adam Tooze, Alvin Toffler

Abstract

The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most (2020), by Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell, presents a blistering critique of the contemporary ideology of innovation, exposing what the authors call «innovation-speak» – a hegemonic discourse that glorifies disruptive change and marginalises the essential work of maintenance.

The Innovation Delusion, by Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell, published not many years ago (2020), is among the scholar books one must read, especially for younger generations and policymakers around the world. Many years ago, Steven Shapin (1989) unearthed the role of the technician in modern science. Innovation Delusion does the same for hidden activities in innovation — i.e., activities related to technology and engineering. Maintenance, upkeep and care is the motto behind Vinsel and Russell’s book.

Author Biography

Tiago Brandão, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

Holds a BA, MA and PhD in Contemporary History from NOVA FCSH (Portugal). His work focuses on Contemporary History and Public Policy, with emphasis on scientific policy, innovation studies, and the analysis and evaluation of STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) policies. He is currently a visiting foreign professor in the Bachelor’s programme in Public Policy at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC, São Paulo) and a researcher in the History, Territories and Communities (HTC) group at NOVA FCSH. Since 2021, he has also served as an accredited external lecturer in the postgraduate programme in Technology and Society (CAPES 5) at the Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR). He has published books, articles and peer-reviewed chapters on the history of science policy, critical studies of innovation, and the history of concepts and ideas in STI, with a special focus on Portugal and comparative perspectives within Ibero-America. He has collaborated extensively with Brazilian and Latin American researchers and has experience in university teaching, postgraduate supervision and academic publishing. He was PI of the Portuguese team in the CyTED network PCyT-Lab (“STI Policy Laboratory: Transferable Models at the Local Scale”) and, since 2024, is a member of the CyTED network “Changing Evaluation: Inclusive Transformation of Research in Ibero-America”.

References

References

Antunes, R. (2018). O privilégio da servidão. O novo proletariado de serviços na era digital. São Paulo: Boitempo.

Hiessl, C., Gonsales, M., Roncato, M. S., van der Laan, M., Antunes, R. coord. (2024). Trabalho em Plataformas: Regulamentação ou Desregulamentação? São Paulo: Boitempo.

Edgerton, D. (2006). The shock of the old: Technology and global history since 1900. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Godin, B. (2015). Innovation Contested: The Idea of Innovation Over the Centuries. Routledge.

Godin, B. (2017). Models of Innovation: History of an Idea. MIT Press.

Godin, B. (2019). The Invention of Technological Innovation. Languages, Discourses and Ideology in Historical Perspective. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Shapin, S. (1989). The invisible technician. American Scientist, 77(6), 554-563.

Toffler, A. (1970). Future shock. New York, NY: Random House.

Toffler, A. (1980). The third wave. New York, NY: William Morrow and Company.

Tooze, A. (2014). The sense of a vacuum: Wages of destruction and the narrative of Nazi economics. History and Theory, 53(2), 203-215.

Tooze, A. (2018). Crashed: How a decade of financial crises changed the world. New York, NY: Viking.

Tooze, A. (2021). Shutdown: How COVID shook the world's economy. New York, NY: Viking.

Vinsel, L., & Russell, A. L. (2020). The innovation delusion: How our obsession with the new has disrupted the work that matters most. New York, NY: Currency.

Additional Files

Published

2025-12-17

How to Cite

Brandão, T. (2025). Critical Review of «The Innovation Delusion»: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most (Vinsel & Russell, 2020). NOvation — Critical Studies of Innovation, (7), 6. https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.i7.102433

Issue

No. 7 (2025): Critical approaches to innovation and alternative policy models for innovation

Section

Reviews

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Copyright (c) 2025 Tiago Brandão

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