ABSTRACT
Reinitiation is a form of paradigm-rejecting contribution that restarts the field in a new place and moves in a new direction from there. In reinitiation, a contributor suggests that a field or subfield has reached an undesirable point or has exhausted itself moving in its current direction. But rather than suggesting that the field or subfield change course (as in redirection), the contributor suggests moving in a different direction from a different point in the multidimensional space of contributions. In effect, the contributor is suggesting people question their assumptions and “start over” from a point that most likely makes different assumptions. This form of creative contribution represents a major paradigm shift and comes closest to Kuhn's (1970) conception of revolutionary science. Martindale (1990) has pointed out that here what we call reinitiations also occur in the arts. And at least some of the innovators in Kirton's theory of adaptors and innovators (e.g., Kirton, Bailey, & Glendinning, 1991) would fall into this category as well. Consider examples of reinitiation from the domains of science and technology.
