Techno-nationalism is a way of understanding how technology affects the society and culture of a nation. One common example is the use of technology to advance nationalist agendas, with the goal of promoting connectedness and a stronger national identity. As noted by Alex Capri, the rise of techno-nationalist approaches has precipitated a US-China race to promote ideological values through the reshaping of institutions and standards. This idea establishes the belief that the success of a nation can be determined by how well that nation innovates and diffuses technology across its people. Technological nationalists believe that the presence of national R&D efforts, and the effectiveness of these efforts, are key drivers to the overall growth, sustainability, and prosperity of a nation. Techno-nationalism is an increasingly dominant approach in governance that links a nation’s technological capabilities and self-sufficiency to its state security, economic prosperity, and social stability. It is a response to a new era of global systemic competition between differing ideologies of economic development.

Leaders of innovation

Technological nationalism is consistently tied to specific countries that are known for their innovative nature. These countries and regions such as

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

have become known for being leaders in technological growth. When identifying leaders in technological innovation it has been affirmed "technologies are associated with particular nations. Cotton textiles and steam power are seen as British, chemicals as German, mass production as North American, consumer electronics as Japanese." These countries have grown to be prosperous due to their strong economic ties to technological growth, "Historians and others have assumed that Germany and America grew fast in the early years of the twentieth century because of rapid national innovation." Because of the effect that technology has on economic growth there is an implicit tie between economic growth and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. Britain became an example of this tie between economic prosperity and technological innovation when they invested heavily in technological research and development to match the innovation standards of other countries. Today, techno-nationalism is seen to manifest in geopolitical rivalry, particularly between the United States and China. The increasing geopolitical tensions and bifurcation in technology between the United States and China have resulted in the signing of the CHIPS for America Act to support domestic technological innovation in the US, and the Made In China 2025 plan, to secure China’s position as a global powerhouse in high-tech industries. The competing nature of the two responses seeks to reassert nationalistic sentiments in a nation’s technological progress and development, and its implications are felt strongest in geopolitics and trade.

China

Over the past decade, China has launched various programs, including

Made in China 2025 Made in China 2025 ()Made in China 2025
. CSIS, June 1, 2015. (MIC25, MIC 2025, or ...

and China Standards 2035 to reduce its dependency on foreign technologies. At the

2020 National People's Congress The 2020 National People's Congress was the Third Plenary Session of the 13th National People's Congress. It was held from Friday 22 to 28 May, concurrently with the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) as part of the annual ...

, the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

announced a doubling down of its two leading industrial initiatives, in addition to investing US$1.4 trillion on a digital infrastructure public spending scheme. As an emerging tech giant, China has become a leading innovator both globally and domestically. While China may still look beyond its borders to supply its enormous thirst for semiconductors. But the manufacturing giant is racing to catch up to US tech firepower.

Indonesia

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

isn't often thought of as an area where excessive innovation occurs. However, in relation to technological nationalism, Indonesia is a front-runner. In 1976, Indonesia established the Industri Pesawat Terban Nusantara or

IPTN Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) ( id, PT Dirgantara Indonesia (Persero)), is an Indonesian aerospace company involved in aircraft design and the development and manufacture of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft. The company was formerly k ...

, which is a government issued company that specializes in air and space travel. The IPTN would soon receive a 2 billion dollar investment from the government, making it among the largest companies in a third world country, let alone one of the only aircraft manufacturers. Because of its overwhelming success, Indonesians felt immense pride for their country and became "a prominent symbol of Indonesian national esteem and pride." Because of this newfound confidence, Indonesians began to consider themselves "equal to Westerners," showing that having pride in one's country can be a direct result of technological investments.Nationalist rhetoric and technological development: The Indonesian aircraft industry in the New Order regime

Canada

Canada's greatest challenge in the 19th century was to unite the country across a continent. The construction of the CPR (from 1881 to 1885) was a deliberate political and economic attempt to unite Canada's regions and link Eastern and Western Canada, the heartland and hinterland respectively. Charland identified this project as based on the nation's faith in technology's ability to overcome physical obstacles. As the technology was adapted to suit Canadian needs, it fed the national

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

that railroads were an integral part of nation building. This spirit of technological nationalism also fuelled the development of broadcasting in the country and thus further served in the development of a national identity. Paradoxically however, these technologies, which historian Harold Innis termed "space-binding," simultaneously supported and undermined the development of a Canadian nation. Based in connection rather than content, they did not favour any particular set of values, except those arising from trade and communication themselves, and so they also contributed to Canada's integration into first the British, and then the American empire.

References

*Maurice Charland "Technological Nationalism," Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory 10 (1, 1986): 196-220.
"Maple Leaves, Beavers and Satellites: Technological Nationalism as Philosophy and Theory"
a paper presented by Howard Fremeth at the CCA Annual Conference 2006, York University, Toronto
Old Messengers, New Media: The Legacy of Innis and McLuhan
a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada

Leaders of innovation

China

Indonesia

Canada

See also

References

Further reading