Controversial innovation and spatial pockets of peripheral opportunity

Abstract Innovation is often paradoxical: it is both demanded and resisted. This article theorizes the process of controversial innovation (CI) as coevolving through the interplay of argument and action, where advances in innovation rewrite controversies and shifting arguments redirect innovation trajectories. To examine these dynamics in context, we introduce the concept of the spatial pocket of innovation (SPI), which is grounded in theoretical propositions of peripherality: disconnection from the core and institutional slack generate conditions that foster innovation during periods of controversy. Building on this, we propose the SPI framework as a structured guide for empirical inquiry, providing a novel perspective on the enabling role of peripheral spaces in redirecting CI.