Dr. Langdon Winner

Dr. Langdon Winner is Thomas Phelan Chair of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Department of Science and Technological Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. On February 19, 2015, Dr. Winner came to James Madison University (JMU) to give a lecture to JMU's faculty and graduate students. The lecture, "Planet of the Apps: the Myth of Innovation and the Eclipse of Progress," was sponsored by JMU's Cohen Center for the Study of Technological Humanism. During his lecture, Dr. Winner talked about his idea about what innovation really means to people and to society today. "It is impressive to see such ingenuity and devotion lavished upon products and apps. Yet one has to wonder, is this becoming the planet of apps?"

Dr. Winner compared the innovation processes nowadays with those decades ago, which are called Benign Innovation. "Graceful, largely beneficial changes within traditions of practice. They are respectful about what came before and what exists today. In contrast, today's favored style of innovation upholds 'creative destruction'." "INNOVATION OR DIE" is the slogan today.

“Disruptive innovation is perhaps best seen as the jewel in the crown of the neoliberalism.”

“Innovation is sometimes the grand name of a strategy premised upon evasion and delayed.”

Disruptive innovation is a theory and strategy promoted in many business school worldwide. The idea of being disruptive became too popular for innovators to remember the idea of making progress, which is in fact the core value of innovation. Unfortunately indeed, the obsession with innovation tends to deflect us from any committed solution to resolve the problem. Dr. Winner said that we should ask deeper questions, "How does one evaluate change and its consequence?" "When is something good or not?" "Will we innovate ourselves out of the glaring gaps of inequality that now afflict many world societies?" What we need is solution rather than a buzz word. We should be engaged in innovation but not evasion. Innovation should serve the world rather than be itself. 

Dinner was held on the same day Dr. Winner gave his lecture. A brown bag lunch discussion on innovation, reflecting Winner’s lecture, was held on March 4th in Cohen Center.