1 Introduction: Transforming innovations in Africa; explorative studies on appropriation in African societies

Abstract

African societies and cultures have always interacted with the outside world and there has been a frequent exchange of innovations between Africa and the rest of the world, with external innovations being introduced, appropriated and transformed in Africa. Innovation is a term that evokes a multitude of ideas and emotions, and is positively associated with ?modernity?, ?development? and ?progresses?. This chapter provides a brief introduction to each of the papers, which have been grouped according to themes: socio-economic, institutional, socio-cultural and socio-technical innovations. Innovations encompass social processes in their entirety and cannot be confined to any single sphere. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify the realm from which an innovation has originated in order to question whether its origins have influenced the subsequent innovation pathway and its eventual outcome. Keywords: African societies; institutional innovations; modernity; socio-cultural innovations; socio-economic innovations; socio-technical innovations