Innovation and its enemies : why people resist new technologies

433 Pages·2016·2.45 MB·English

by  Juma

INNOVATION
AND ITS ENEMIES
“A must read for anyone who wishes to engage in disruption
themselves.”
— Sir Richard J. Roberts
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine and Chief Scientific Officer,
New England Biolabs
“A very well- researched account of innovation and its enemies, not to
be missed by scholars and the public, both for historical perspec-
tives and readiness for future innovations.”
— Professor Yongyuth Yuthavong
Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technology,
Thailand
“This book is a timely one. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to
Dr. Calestous Juma for his labor of love for the progress of human
wellbeing through scientific innovations.”
— M. S. Swaminathan
World Food Prize Laureate, and Founder Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan
Research Foundation
“This is a good read and an invaluable reference work for those work-
ing on new technologies, especially those needed to meet the grand
challenges of the twenty-first century.”
— Lord Alec Broers
British House of Lords and Former Vice Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge
“An excellent analysis of forces that oppose new innovative products
and services. A must read for entrepreneurs, policy framers and
academicians.”
— N. R. Narayana Murthy
Founder, Infosys
“Juma’s insight is to see how the appropriate deployment of political
capital and a deeper understanding of how the average citizen can
confuse hazard and risk can make crucial differences to outcomes.
Scientific and political leaders need this book.”
— Ian Blatchford
Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group, the United
Kingdom
Innovation and
Its Enemies
Why People Resist
New Technologies
Calestous Juma
1
1
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Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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© Oxford University Press 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Juma, Calestous, author.
Title: Innovation and its enemies : why people resist new technologies /
Calestous Juma.
Description: First edition. | Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2016. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015043807 (print) | LCCN 2015048125 (ebook) |
ISBN 978–0–19–046703–6 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 978–0–19–046704–3 (Updf) | ISBN 978–0–19–046705–0 (Epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Technological innovations—History. | Technology and civilization. |
Technology—Social aspects.
Classification: LCC HC79.T4 J8178 2016 (print) | LCC HC79.T4 (ebook) |
DDC 338/.064—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015043807
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
To my son Eric

Contents
Acknowledgments | ix
Introduction | 1
1. Gales of Creative Destruction | 11
2. Brewing Trouble: Coffee | 44
3. Stop the Presses: Printing the Koran | 68
4. Smear Campaigns: Margarine | 95
5. Gaining Traction: Farm Mechanization | 121
6. Charged Arguments: Electricity | 144
7. Cool Reception: Mechanical Refrigeration | 174
8. Facing the Music: Recorded Sound | 202
9. Taking Root: Transgenic Crops | 224
10. Swimming against the Current: AquAdvantage Salmon | 257
11. Oiling the Wheels of Novelty | 280
NOTES | 317
INDEX | 371
vii

Acknowledgments
This book has benefited from many people who have offered me
guidance, research, insights and comments. The book was written
over sixteen years, and so it will not be possible to acknowledge
everyone who supported me over the period. In fact, I can trace
some of the ideas in the book back to the early 1980s when I worked
under the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai at the
Nairobi- based Environment Liaison Centre (ELC). The preceding
oil crises and environmental concerns had inspired considerable
interest in clean energy, which culminated in the convening of the
United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Energy Sources
in Nairobi in 1981. It became clear then that seemingly basic ideas
such as tree planting encounter numerous social obstacles. While
at ELC my thinking about technology and the environment was
shaped by the guidance of Gary Gallon and the inspirational lead-
ership of Mostafa Tolba, then Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme.
Along my intellectual journey I benefited immensely from
inspirational support, suggestions, and comments from many
colleagues. The list is too long to be exhaustive here, but I will
mention just a few. They include Philipp Aerni, Bruce Alberts,
Graham Allison, Lewis Branscomb, John Browne, Norman Clark,
Abdallah Daar, Henry Etzkowitz, Leonel Antonio Fernández,
ix