The state as the “shield of the weak”: innovation policy as an inclusive strategy

Judith Sutz

Chapter 13 in The New Role of the State for Transformative Innovation, 2026, pp 209-221 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The State as the “shield of the weak” is an expression attributed to José Batlle y Ordóñez, a Uruguayan President in the first decade of the twentieth century; his government achieved some societal goals that led to characterizing Uruguay as the first welfare state of Latin America. Alternative goals must be set for knowledge and innovation to help address great societal challenges; this has been termed “directionality.” Innovations coming from an inclusive directionality set in highly industrialized countries may not work as solutions for problems in underdevelopment; some problems may even remain hidden, requiring a process of “unearthing” to become a target for innovation policies. Directionality should be understood not only as goals but also as the means through which they are implemented: frugal innovation or innovation done in scarcity conditions follows the heterodox heuristics needed to make possible that the intended solutions for some of the great societal challenges reach the more needy. Coupling urgency, huge coordinating and steering tasks, and resources, the great societal challenges need bringing the state back in; if inclusiveness is at stake, given that an increase in inequality is one of the first impacts of such great challenges, the state should act as the shield of the weak.

Keywords: Underdevelopment; Directionality of Goals and Means; Unearthing Problems; Frugal Innovations; Roles of the State; Innovations and Injustice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781839100253
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