International Competition and Nanotechnology Policies: Discourse, Hegemony, and International Political Economy

Abstract

The paper argues that the potential of post-positivist theories of International Relations should be more fully explored in the analysis of ‘material’- economic processes of technology development. Taking the politics of nanotechnology as an example, the paper proposes an approach to innovation politics and technology development based on theories of hegemony, discourse and international political economy. The guiding hypothesis is that nanotechnology should be conceptualized not as a technology in its own right but as a broad and encompassing techno-socio-economic innovation strategy and, hence, a specific hegemonic project. The importance of such a project stems less from ongoing technological developments, but from its relation to the overall global socio-economic structure. As an innovation project, it creates a link between nanotechnology and the future of the industrial world. Above all, it aims to transform industrialized states into ‘competition states’ according to competitive criteria. Nanotechnology as a political project acts as a kind of driving force for economic expansion. In this capacity it serves to propel the pervasive reconstruction of the field of research and development in a competitive direction, especially in the more advanced industrialized countries. It is the term nanotechnology that brings different R&D politics together under a single cover, giving them a common identity. In a nutshell, the paper will develop a specific theoretical perspective on politics of technology and innovation within global political economy based on post-positivist theories of IR.