Understanding Responsible Innovation in Small Producers’ Clusters in Vietnam through Actor-Network Theory

Innovation is increasingly recognised as an alternative for poverty alleviation in developing countries. However, cases of innovation in small producers’ clusters in Vietnam imply negative externalities that conflict with today’s notions of sustainable and inclusive development. This article analyses how small producers innovate while taking environmental and social considerations into account through an interactive societal process towards a community network, conceptualised as responsible innovation. Existing multifaceted theoretical insights do not provide sufficient basis to construct and test explanations. We apply a grounded theory involving Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to seek explanations as to why some small producers behave opportunistically while others acknowledge responsibility for the negative externalities. ANT enables us to see the critical details of the network creation process, including the agenda of the key actors, push and pull factors, the type of innovation, and the informal institutional context.