Edward Elgar Publishing Technology, Development and Democracy: Limits of National Innovation Systems in the Age of Postmodernism

How can developing nations achieve cohesive national innovation systems which provide the foundations for technological progress and economic growth? In answer to this question, Technology, Development and Democracy examines the possibility of studying innovation systems using a unified approach drawing on economic, political, sociological and cultural factors and addresses the problematic concept of progress in the postmodern era. Haider Khan expresses the search for high technology as the search for 'positive feedback loop innovation systems' (POLIS). In the first part of the book the conditions for POLIS are explored both in theory and using empirical evidence. The author examines the theoretical arguments which describe an innovation system as a complex and uncertain evolutionary process. He uses empirical evidence to illustrate these arguments and examines whether South Korea's pursuit of high technology has led to the creation of a 'positive feedback loop innovation system'. The second part of the book extends the analysis of the economics of POLIS and discusses the implications of high technology systems for the polity and society at large. It also pursues some of the normative issues raised by high technology, particularly the relationship between economy and democracy. Technology, Development and Democracy will be invaluable to students and academics with an interest in economic development, technological change and political economy.