Imposing innovation: How ‘innovation speak’ maintains postcolonial exclusion in Peru

Abstract

Innovation is regarded as a central driver of societal progress via its perceived role in enhancing economic growth and competitive advantage. As a result, ideals associated with innovation have long influenced development theory, policy and practice, particularly in relation to how nation-states, industries and communities might overcome structural barriers to poverty, unemployment, and more. In recent decades, development discourse has come to embrace a more individualised perspective that views business models, design-thinking and entrepreneurship as key engines of economic creativity and growth. This trend, known as innovation speak, is today a globally dominant paradigm influencing nearly every aspect of economic and social policy, from education to healthcare. In this paper, we argue that innovation speak reinforces colonial power relations, particularly the socioeconomic exclusion and cultural subordination of racialised communities. Focusing on Peru as an empirical setting, our study employs semi-structured interviews with key informants, analyses policy instruments, and draws insights from research diaries documenting a visit to an Indigenous-led innovation initiative. Through our analysis, we illuminate how innovation speak permeates development discourse, policy and tools, with the effect of reinforcing a globally dominant capitalist imaginary that posits market- and growth-centric forms of innovation as the presumed path to national development, to the exclusion of other approaches practised and prioritised by Indigenous groups. Our study thus contributes to a more nuanced understanding of innovation speak, coloniality, and the discourses that today dominate development policy and practice in many Global South nations.