Evolution, socio-economic progress, and innovation: Gabriel Tarde´s perspective

Abstract

Introduction. Gabriel Tarde was a criminologist, jurist, sociologist, and social psychologist from the second half of the 19th century. He expounded a theory of progress, in which he presented innovation as a central element. The present review has placed its focus on Tarde's thinking on socioeconomic progress and innovation. Methods. A bibliographic analysis of six of his works was carried out, including five books and one essay. Those that presented his perspective on socioeconomic progress and the role of innovation in it were selected. Discussion. The author presents a perspective of progress based on the forces of desires and beliefs of the social agent. He paid special attention to the imitative characteristic of society, concluding that desires and beliefs expand through an imitative process. Political economy should study them in depth. He conceived innovation as variations that altered that process and are necessary for progress. According to his vision, developing countries were going through a phase of emergence of the desire to consume foreign goods, which was followed by another phase of awakening of the desire for their own invention and production. Conclusion. A heterodox view was exposed of socioeconomic dynamics. The action of political economy must study the desires and beliefs as drivers of consumption, invention, and production since these are expanded through an imitative process. Tarde considered that this has implications for the progress of developing countries.