Title: Sectoral myths, technotypes and institutional science fiction: how organisations stimulate their creativity

Authors: Thomas Michaud

Addresses: Lab ISI/RII, University of the Littoral Opal Coast, France

Abstract: The economy is based on sectoral myths, some of which are inspired by foundational science fiction stories. Technotypes are imaginary archetypes of technologies behind the utopian technologies that are at the centre of this mythology. The concept comes from Jungian psychology and the theory of the collective unconscious. Some of these myths come from mainstream works, but science fiction is also increasingly used by companies and organisations to define their strategic discourse and guide their innovation processes. They have realised for some years the value of creating their own stories through creative methods such as design fiction and science fiction prototyping. This article studies the construction of these economic myths through concepts from narrative economics (Shiller, 2019). They institute technology and actively participate in the process of innovation. This phenomenon is called institutional science fiction.

Keywords: sectoral myth; Science fiction; design fiction; technotypes; institutions; narratives economics; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2024.138848

International Journal of Technology Management, 2024 Vol.95 No.3/4, pp.292 - 306

Received: 20 May 2022
Accepted: 16 Jan 2023
Published online: 31 May 2024 *

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