STS and Area Studies A Social Network Perspective

Authors: Chen DungSheng

Publish Date: 2008/09/01

Volume: 2, Issue: 3, Pages: 439-444

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Abstract

The focus of this article is to explore how regional academic networks including balanced global and local relationships can contribute to the development of science technology and science studies and area studies in Asia On the one hand local scholars can employ global connections to pursue continuous collaborative academic activities from a region to the world to learn various information and to address local issues all over the world On the other hand local researchers can utilize local networks to organize locally significant research topics to create a platform for theory building with regard to specific social contexts and to create research synergy at different spatial scalesIt is very important for scholars to study particularities in the area of East Asia since local experiences have not been theorized systematically in the academic community This point is especially significant in science technology and society STS studies because science and technology are often taken to be universal and homogeneous all over the world and the development of science and technology is assumed to follow a linear model in most societies A particularity approach with the emphasis on case studies will contribute to theoretical development in STS if we recognize East Asia as an open region in which both local and global factors shape the development of science and technologyIn my own study of integrated circuit IC industrial development in Taiwan I found that the balance of local and global interorganizational ties avoids lockin effects in this industrial network while contributing to the receipt of new information and facilitating pathindependent technology collaboration Chen 2008 Taking this as an example we can treat local social or economic phenomena as both local and global events to some extent Some case studies in East Asian societies will contribute to revising or creating general theories while others will tend to highlight special mechanisms working at local levels Therefore we must keep our epistemological positions open in order to appreciate possible contributions made by East Asian studiesIn addition a nonethnocentric area study can help scholars become sensitive to asymmetrical power relationships among different regions This powersensitive STS approach tends to be a critical one that challenges the ideology of progress behind science and technology On the one hand scholars of East Asian societies need to examine whether or not onedirectional diffusion of Western science and technology into these societies can improve the quality of life and reduce social inequality without leading to environment pollution technology dependence and health risks On the other hand they need to pay attention to the dominance of East Asian societies over Southeast Asian Middle Eastern or even African societies through the mechanisms of foreign investment science and technology transfer and international migration of workers Positioned at the semiperiphery of the world system East Asian societies become meaningful cases for studying both the core countries and peripheral countriesFinally the area study of STS should be sensitive to both intended and unintended consequences of science and technology traveling across borders In Taiwan during the Japanese occupation period the colonial state introduced many new technologies that it then used to consolidate power After 1945 the Nationalist partystate followed the same mode of governance with very strong support from the American government to bring in new technologies In the late 1980s Taiwan moved into an era of technologyintensive industrial development Multinational corporations replaced the state as the most active agents in transmitting technology from one region to another The power relationships behind technology transfer were more implicit than in the colonial period because the state was not on the scene and the rhetoric of interregional technology transfer was usually accompanied by the idea of national competitive capacity When most people take technology upgrading for granted as part of national economic development there are very few challenges to this mode of crossnation technological linkageAt the worldsystem level intensive technology transfer has often reinforced the existent core–semiperipheral–peripheral structure For example as already noted the Japanese colonial government increased its political legitimacy in Taiwan based on science and technology People residing in the colonial territory had difficulty developing an alternative framework with which to challenge the colonial scientific governance In postcolonial times technologyintensive industrial development in local societies with great help from leading foreign corporations equipped with advanced knowledge has tended to reinforce economic and social inequality because only a small proportion of local people can be recruited into these hightech sectorsUniversalism of technology may wipe out local differences in both developing and using knowledge Contemporary development in science and technology has a tendency to converge in a few leading innovative technologies such as nanotechnology biotechnology and information–communication technology One country after another pours resources into these fields but only a limited number can finally succeed after this fierce competition The unintended result is a collective waste of resourcesOn the positive side the institutionalization of modern medicine during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan unintentionally incubated many doctor–political activists who organized grassroots associations against the colonial government Lo 2002 Asymmetrical power relationships between local people and the colonial government were thus challenged in various waysAs I mentioned before IC industry development in Taiwan is based on a very specific form of network organization Similarly networking among social actors in science and technology plays a significant role in constructing the meaning of science and technology Latour 1999 The emphasis on social networks in both the sociology of organizations and STS study may lead to a new interpretation of “area study” Obviously social networks are established in a given location but they keep expanding outside the boundary and including external actors An open social network in an area can function as a strong engine for maintaining local distinctiveness by means of clustering effects Meanwhile it can serve as a conduit for employing external resources to avoid negative impacts of overembeddedness Uzzi 1997 It is very important to notice that an areabased network must remain open as well as relatively autonomous in order to develop a contextualized area study

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