Title:
Resilience of Systems: Technocracy and Information Society in Japan, 1960s–1980s
Abstract:
This dissertation examines how the “systems approach” shaped engineers’ and technocrats’ understanding of human society and social governance in Japan. It argues that Japanese technocrats adopted a systems approach to address social problems and to establish a resilient and market-oriented “neoliberal technocracy.” The systems approach underpinning the system concept claims to employ multidisciplinary expertise to resolve research problems by analyzing, controlling, managing, and optimizing systems. Initially adopted by a technocratic coalition of engineers, economists, bureaucrats, and executives in the late 1960s, the systems approach served as a methodology for them to understand social issues and realize a utopian vision of an “information society.” This interdisciplinary collaboration gave rise to a new technocratic culture characterized by self-reflexive optimism, a holistic vision, and an interdisciplinary approach. Unlike their prewar counterparts, these technocrats acknowledged the limitations of their methodology, welcomed interdisciplinary input from social sciences, and aimed to include diverse perspectives. Despite this self-reflexivity, the holistic worldview and interdisciplinary methodologies offered by the systems approach made them optimistic that problems, uncertainties, and risks in socio-technological systems could be resolved through system building and optimization.
These characteristics bolstered the technocrats’ resilience against critiques and failures, as these issues were not only anticipated but could also be integrated into the framework of systems. In the 1970s, technocrats faced challenges and critiques while constructing state-funded, centralized “social systems” to address pressing issues such as pollution, waste, shortages of medical services, and traffic congestion. Rather than acknowledging the failure of the systems approach, the setbacks—coupled with the rise of personal computers and commercial information systems—prompted a shift toward interconnected yet decentralized social and technological systems. These systems were perceived as both practical and profitable, making them better suited to the idea of a liberalized market economy. This shift marked the maturation of a resilient and market-oriented neoliberal technocracy, which facilitated neoliberal reforms through the technocrats’ active political participation in the 1980s.
Link to the dissertation in JScholarship. (Embargo until 2028-08-01.)
See how the project looked like in early 2024, 2022, and 2020.
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