The new issue is about "the new". Few things just stay as they are, transformation is ubiquitous - but what exactly are the conditions of emerging newness? Innovations, whether in institutions or in technologies, seem to occur spontaneously. Inventions for everyday life depend on coincidences. Nonetheless, are there consistent patterns for innovation? This is what the WZB research unit Cultural Sources of Newness wanted to find out in the last seven years, and this question is the September issue's focus.
