A sensible question, but one whose answers are more complicated than many realize. Here, we first set out the meanings attached to the concept of innovation and ask how it has recently come to occupy the political and economic position it now holds. In particular, we draw from science and technology studies (STS), which has long sought to better incorporate the public into science and technology decision-making, and from which some of the impetus towards connecting ‘responsibility’ with ‘innovation’ derives. We then explain how initiatives towards better inclusion of citizens in decision-making have informed the European Union's framework for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), and what is missing from this approach in terms of understanding the place of innovation and its politics in the present political economy.

Continuing directly from this, we will consider the problems which arise from reliance on markets, exploring why the ‘optimal solutions’ they are supposed to offer have often turned out not to be so optimal after all. Here we lay out the economic foundation of the book in language accessible to the non-academic, introducing concepts such as the Prisoners’ Dilemma, explaining what Gross Domestic Product (GDP) actually measures and considering why this does not provide an adequate determination of societal health.