Doctoral Dissertation Research: Daniel J. Plafcan: Between State and Transnational Community: Building a U.S.-Japan Technological Alliance, 1976-1999

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

For reasons of cost, scale, function, and foreign policy, the governments of Japan and the United States are increasingly relying on each other as partners in what were previously considered to be primarily national technological projects such as defense and space. Through a comparative study of U.S.-Japan collaboration in environmental remote-sensing satellites and fighter aircraft, this dissertation research project analyzes how the practices and processes of building technological systems constitute intergovernmental relations that are often subsumed under the label of "alliance." No previous academic study in English or Japanese has addressed this question in an empirical fashion. The project uses an interdisciplinary theoretical approach drawing from the fields of science and technology studies, technology management, and international relations theory. The contention is that an understanding of technological practices in collaborative projects is essential for interpretations, explanations, and prescriptions about the political role of technology. Scientists, engineers, and program managers create transnational technological practices and technologies that bring together knowledge and politics to build a heterogeneous and multifaceted alliance. Between state and transnational community, a U.S.-Japan alliance is built with technology.