How sanitary pads came to save the world

Knowing inclusive innovation through science and the marketplace

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11924359
AutoresShobita Parthasarathy (0000-0001-5635-464X, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen52
Número5
Páginas637-663
Fecha de publicación2022-09-09
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Studies of Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/03063127221122457
PMID36082631
OpenAlexW4295024095
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas55

International development institutions, governments, and social entrepreneurs have become increasingly enthusiastic about 'inclusive innovation' which, to solve problems in low- and middle-income countries, focuses on the development of technologies for and by the poor. Inclusive innovation differs from previous development efforts by focusing on devices instead of infrastructure, claiming to be based on scientific evidence, and relying on market logics to achieve humanitarian ends. Proponents argue that, informed by grassroots efforts, these interventions have enormous potential to catalyze economic, social, and political change. How are the market and technological imperatives of inclusive innovation shaping the international development agenda? What do inclusion and innovation mean in this context? What can inclusive innovation tell us about the proliferation of initiatives that promote technology for public good, from responsible innovation to public interest technology? This article examines these questions through a case study of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) innovation in India. Rather than providing solutions to self-evident development problems, inclusive innovation shapes both development problems and solutions simultaneously, in areas where scientific and market ways of knowing converge. These ways of knowing claim to be legitimate because they are rooted in local knowledge and expertise. MHM in India became a problem, and low-cost disposable sanitary pads an inclusive innovative solution, because of the involvement of Indian researchers and innovators, and Indian girls and women as consumers and producers. However, in the process they reinforced narrow understandings of both inclusion and innovation in international development. Inclusion efforts may be wrapped up in political economies that shape and limit their transformational power by prioritizing scientific, technical, and market expertise

Business · Context (archaeology · Economic growth · Economics · Grassroots · Inclusion (mineral · Inclusive development · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development