Title: Cyberpunk as a frame for institutional change through blockchain applications? A narrative analysis of three blockchain projects examining their goals regarding established institutions

Authors: Jan-Peter Schmitten; Julien Bucher

Addresses: Chair for Innovation Research and Technology Management, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Straße 39, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany ' Chair for Innovation Research and Technology Management, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Straße 39, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany

Abstract: Introduced in 2009, the founding narrative of blockchain technologies is one of the failures of the banking system and the disappointed hopes of freedom and democracy of the early internet. Blockchain technologies could rectify the lost trust and fulfil lost hopes by changing institutional arrangements and by removing intermediaries that resemble the corporate behemoths imagined in cyberpunk fiction. Using Greimas' actantial-model, this study analyses how cyberpunk references are used by blockchain projects to frame their aims in terms of institutional change for more desirable futures. This study highlights the role of fictional stories in framing innovation and how they can reveal the institutional goals of organisations. A contrasting case without cyberpunk underscores the interpretive flexibility of blockchain technologies in terms of their potential to complement, change, or replace current institutions, leaving the 'if' and 'how' open questions for now.

Keywords: blockchain; institutional change; cyberpunk; framing; narrative; actantial-model.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2024.138801

International Journal of Technology Management, 2024 Vol.95 No.3/4, pp.307 - 334

Received: 01 Jun 2022
Accepted: 16 Jan 2023
Published online: 31 May 2024 *

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