A MULTI-METHOD SOCIO-POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT IN EAST ASIA

Yun-Chung Ting

This dissertation research sheds light on the social factors contributing to the development of the nuclear industry. The guiding theoretical framework comprises two approaches: the world systems analysis and the theory of the developmental state. First, the world systems analysis provided a concise image of a hierarchically ranked inter-state system which strongly represented the relative strength and weakness of the countries and highlighted the unequal exchange between the core and peripheral states. Second, the literature of the developmental state indicated that state autonomy which was embedded in specific structural conditions strongly influenced the consequences of economic development. Three methods were applied to analyze the global nuclear industry: event history analysis, social network analysis, and comparative historical analysis. First, by measuring the time interval from the start of construction to the commercial operation of a nuclear power plant, the event history analysis evaluated the postponement and efficiency of developing the nuclear industry and tested the effects of social factors. Second, by illustrating the global network of nuclear reactor transactions, the network analysis assessed the core/periphery positions of nations pursuing nuclear development. Finally, by presenting the time sequences of the nuclear development in the East Asian countries, the comparative historical analysis further elaborated the institutional conditions of developing nuclear power. Overall, this research found that the global nuclear development showed an uneven distribution along with the hierarchical order of the modern world system. The results indicated that developing countries positioned on the peripheral level of the world system could not gain the premium of importing nuclear technology. Instead of achieving self-sufficiency and industrialization, these countries stagnated in the dependency on the core countries. Although East Asian countries had significant growth in developing nuclear power, their developmentalist mode was not universally applicable to all nations and thus should be considered a product of historical contingency interacting with specific structural conditions such as the Cold War rivalry.

A MULTI-METHOD SOCIO-POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT IN EAST ASIA

Files and links (1)

Abstract

Metrics

Details