In the mood for learning? How the thought collectives of designers and engineers co-create innovations

Knowing in action: beyond communities of practice

Anna Mateja Punstein and Johannes Glückler

Journal of Economic Geography, 2020, vol. 20, issue 2, 543-570

Abstract: In this article, we argue that learning across fields depends on the social construction of (in)commensurability rather than on the ‘distance’ between bodies of knowledge. Building on Fleck’s (1935) original concept of thought collectives, we examine how two professions, engineers and industrial designers, often fail yet sometimes succeed to make their knowledge commensurable and co-create innovation. Empirically, we draw on qualitative fieldwork in Baden-Württemberg to identify three types of relations between industrial design and technical innovation: separation (design without designers), sequential collaboration (shallow and aesthetic design), and co-creation (pervasive design). We extend the concept of inter-collective learning geographically and explore how place and various scales of space affect local thought styles, the retention of thought solidarity and the emergence of new temporary thought collectives.

Keywords: Industrial design; thought collectives; knowledge; innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 L22 L23 O30 R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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