Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide a critical and historically grounded perspective on the institutional fabric for knowledge generation and innovative activities in Chinese society. Utilizing theoretical and methodological insights from social epistemology, it explores legacies of traditional Chinese perceptions of the utility of scientific knowledge, the balance of exploitation/exploration, the prestige of innovation, and the division of labour in knowledge production and application. It is argued that these legacies have continued to shape emerging contemporary institutions of knowledge and innovation. They contribute to tensions between the search for knowledge and requirements of power; they bias innovative activities towards exploitation; and they constrain creative entrepreneurship in the transitional innovation system.