Anchoring: a historical perspective on frugal innovation

Abstract

In almost all of its definitions, applications and examples, the concept of frugal innovation tends to be related exclusively to capitalism and modernity (this Handbook, Chapter 1). There are some observations on its history, e.g. the fact that '[i]t is not a new phenomenon and many societies are practicing it through centuries' (Devi and Kumar, 2017: 66); or the statement that '[i]n the basic sense, frugal innovation has always occurred since the invention of Neanderthal hand tools from stones and bones to making do with what is on hand. Innovation in its most basic form is an old practice that has permeated our human make-up' (Bhatti, 2012: 5). Gupta (2016) has argued that many ancient cultures survived on frugal innovations. However, this historical perspective and its potential for the current debate on frugal innovation have not yet received the attention they deserve. This chapter will therefore supplement the theoretical explorations and proper definition of frugal innovation in this first part of this Handbook by exploring its paradigmatic role in history. Our working definition of frugal innovation is that it is a form of socially embedded action (a practice), characterized by creative improvisation, that is inherently inclusive, in the geographic, cultural, social and economic sense of the word. We will therefore not pay attention to the somewhat more ideological aspects of frugal innovation, however laudable they may be. This omission concerns the focus that we see elsewhere on business models, empowering the poor in the Global South, promoting development, creating livelihoods and innovation strategies as defined in the introduction to this volume. A focus on inclusivity does retain the aspect of influence in multiple directions and global entanglement. Given the expertise of the authors, we will use 'Greco-Roman Antiquity' (known in the Western world as 'Classical Antiquity') as our case study. For the purpose of this chapter we define Greco-Roman Antiquity as encompassing the history of the Greek and Roman civilizations in their Mediterranean and Eurasian contexts in the period of roughly 500 bce -500 ce (see Naerebout and Singor, 2014). In this era, the ancient Mediterranean saw radical innovations and change and it is important to realize that quite a number of inventions from this period still define the Western world to this day, if rarely through an unbroken tradition or in the same form: from radical ideas such as democracy and monotheism, to materials such as concrete and glass, as well as the foundations of modern technology and philosophy (for general overviews of ancient innovations, see D'Angour, 2011, on the Greeks, and Flohr, 2016, for the Roman world).Successful innovations always require (and have always required) a form of what we call anchoring; this can be illustrated with examples from Greco-Roman Antiquity. Inventions only become acceptable, understandable and desirable innovations when relevant social