How narratives construct wickedness in mission-oriented innovation policy problems

Mission-oriented innovation policies are promoted as a means of tackling wicked societal problems that are contested, complex and uncertain, but it is unclear how policy designs should account for such wickedness. This study illustrates how contestation, complexity and uncertainty can be constructed by actors through policy narratives. As a case, it analyses policy consultation responses to the intractable problem of climate mitigation in agri-food. The results show how actors mobilise complexity narratives highlighting side effects, and uncertainty narratives questioning benefits, to justify contested policy positions. The study argues that constructed wickedness only becomes empirically evident once a diffuse societal challenge is framed as a policy problem, delineating affected actors. Further, the study suggests that appropriate problem and solution framing can help ensure that actor-constructed wickedness contributes to learning in the mission policy process, without paralysing it.