Where is the Conflict? Delving in Walloon Science, Technology and Innovation Politics

Building on preliminary empirical observations, this paper seeks to analyze a specific feature of science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in Wallonia (Belgium); that is, the apparent lack of contestation regarding policy making. Over the last decade, multiple programs and plans were implemented by the regional government. These reforms of STI policy are endorsed by multiple stakeholders, including parliamentary opposition, labor unions and employers’ organizations.
Seemingly, Walloon STI policies do not configure as conflict zones. This is remarkable since these programs and plans reconfigure the relationship between science, technological innovation and the market. In other policy fields, opposition is more pronounced and protracted. In other places/times, STI policy is/has been a conflicting matter. This is all the more striking in a context of strategic science advent, where STI is placed at the heart of large regional policy project, building strong ties with economic development and regional identity shaping.
Can STS provide the tools and vocabulary to analyze non-conflictual, « cold » situations such as current STI policies and their evolution in Wallonia? Building on semi-structured interviews with key informants, our analysis will pay attention to Walloon contextual specificities as well as macro-level considerations: can dominant, taken-for-granted master narratives such as “knowledge-based economy”, “Regional innovation systems”, or, more recently, “open and responsible innovation” account for the relative smoothness of STI policies? We conclude that there is a felt need for empirical insights to analyze how these master narratives are locally enacted.