Epilogue: Some concluding thoughts on “resourceful creativity”

“Resourceful creativity” is a powerful concept that links resourceful practices such as imitation, repairing, and repurposing with creativity, forcing readers to rethink the conventional view that such acts of copying and resourcing are somehow mutually exclusive from innovation. As East Asia has long been portrayed as being a mere copier and lacking the ability to innovate, a longue durée analysis from the perspective of East Asia is a particularly strong vantage point from which to grapple with the conceptual implications of the term. Focusing on case studies of resourceful creativity in Qing China, colonial Taiwan, socialist China, and late-twentieth-century South Korea, the articles in this special issue provide new directions for the study of technoscience in East Asia and beyond. The issue also begs the question of how the notion of resourceful creativity accrues contemporary relevance in an era when geopolitical tensions and rising illiberalism impede open technological exchange.