RESEARCH INTERESTS

- science and technology studies

- technological politics

- contemporary social theory

- sociology of risk

- the state and nationalism

- southeast asia (major: Indonesia, minor: Thailand and Singapore)

- development and social change

- sociology of intellectuals

- design studies

CURRENT PROJECTs

A SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOTECHNICAL VULNERABILITY (Funding: Academic Research Fund Tier-1, Ministry ofEducation )

The study is about sociotechnical vulnerability that generally characterizes the functioning of complex technology in modern society. The central question that drives the proposed study: Where does vulnerability originate in sociotechnical system? To answer this conceptual question, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is chosen as the empirical setting for the proposed study. The primary objective of this study is to develop new knowledge and frameworks for identifying and explaining how vulnerability emerges and propagates in a sociotechnical system, which can lead to disaster. Searching for the origins of sociotechnical vulnerability allows us to identify critical areas in the sociotechnical system where vulnerability is likely to emerge. Furthermore, this study seeks to reveal how the development of vulnerability at the micro level where human operators and technical components interact is linked to the socio-political environment at the broader level. Two main hypotheses are set for examination in this study. First, it is posited that vulnerability is a process that unfolds over time.  As a complex system, the fragility of sociotechnical systems is emergent in nature. The more structured and sophisticated a system is, the more fragile it will be. Second, vulnerability is likely to be hidden due to the socio-political environment in which conflicted interests might have entailed pressures to the sociotechnical system to ignore potential risk of safety failures. The significance of the proposed study lies in its contribution of new knowledge to better understanding where vulnerability originates and how it is hidden from our observation. The study seeks to develop a new framework that allows us to explain the generalizable traits of sociotechnical vulnerability, which can be applied to examine technological systems in Singapore. Using social network analysis combined with discourse analysis, this study develops a model of socio-technical network situated in the socio-political environment.

SOCIOTECHNICAL STUDY OF THE UNDERWATER CITY (Funding: Competitive Research Program, National Research Foundation)

Underwater infrastructure can be categorized as a complex system that involves not only sophisticated technical structures but also extensive social organizations. In the sociological point of view, both technical and social elements constitute the sociotechnical system whose resilience relies on smooth integration between technical and organizational apparatuses embedded in the system. Hence, it is highly necessary in the proposed project to look at a variety of sociotechnical aspects that play a central role in the successful operation of the underwater infrastructure to be built.

To examine critical elements in the sociotechnical system of underwater infrastructure, the Social Construction of Technology is proposed as an analytical tool. Largely qualitative in nature, the use of this methodology seeks to understand how social components (organizations, culture, human behaviours, etc.) are arranged in such a way to comply with technical configurations of underwater infrastructure system, and vice versa. As such, this approach requires three social research techniques that allow the team’s social researchers to explore into the intertwining mechanism between social and technical components. These techniques include (1) ethnography, i.e. field observation in existing
underwater infrastructures in different places; (2) in-depth interviews with engineers, contractors, operators, and visitors of the observed infrastructures; (3) archival studies, i.e. analysis on documents related with construction and operation of underwater infrastructures.
Following the primary objectives of this proposed project, studying the sociotechnical aspects of underwater infrastructure revolves around two crucial factors as follows:

Safety system: This refers to the stability of underwater infrastructures in encountering undesired situations. Considering similarities between underwater infrastructure and underground facilities, it is safe to assume that the safety system to be developed for an underwater infrastructure has, to some extent, in common with that of existing underground facilities in Singapore, for instance those with a five-level epth. However, since underwater infrastructures are different in terms of environmental constraints and technologies applied, an in-depth analysis on social organizations and human behaviours that affect safety systems of underwater infrastructure needs to be conducted. In this light,
several critical aspects are to be thoroughly observed including human behaviours, emergency situations, human-flow control, surveillance networks, and organizational responses.

Sustainability: The second factor to be examined in this study deals with longevity of the infrastructure. As a capital-intensive project, the construction of an underwater infrastructure requires basic understanding of how the infrastructure is built such that it will sustain for a long period of time. Such concerns must also take into account social dimensions which include several issues such as cultural dynamics, spatial arrangements, information exchange, organizational stability, etc. These factors are studied in accord to the designated function of the infrastructure, whether it is for commercial, public, or governmental purposes.

With these two features to be examined, this study draws attention to institutional structures that support the whole process of construction and operation of an underwater infrastructure. Hence, this study is focused on the network of human individuals embodying the entire institutional structure of underwater infrastructure and how this network is suitably integrated to the technical system of underwater facilities.

Deliverables: (a) Study of the standard form of organizational structure that complies with underwater social environment. The result will be useful to inform future developments of underwater infrastructure in Singapore; (b) Examination of safety systems across different sociotechnical contexts in underwater social environment. The result will be valuable as guidance in conceiving of safety systems for the proposed underwater infrastructure; and (c) A map of the sociotechnical network suitable for underwater infrastructure. This will contribute to better understanding the working of complex systems in particular underwater facilities.

NUCLEAR POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA (Funding: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, NTU)

After being idle for a decade, nuclear power is increasingly gaining popularity among Southeast Asian states. The unprecedented rise of oil prices in international markets following the Iraq War, the global concern of climate change, and technological breakthroughs in the safety system of nuclear reactor design are among the crucial factors that render nuclear power a viable, strategic option for Southeast Asian countries to secure their energy supply. Most of these countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have for some decades developed considerable capacity in nuclear research. But it is just recently that these countries are taking serious measures to materialize the production of nuclear power plant for energy purposes.

The growing desire for nuclear power in Southeast Asia has been accompined by a variety of public responses in this region. These responses are by and large determined by democratic conditions in the respective country. In Indonesia, for example, the state’s plan to implement the nuclear energy program is being challenged by a strong anti-nuclear alliance constituted by various civil society groups demanding the current government to cut off the nuclear option from the national energy policy. Although lower in scale compared to its counterpart in Indonesia, Thailand’s anti-nuclear movements are fervently showing their disapproval, pushing the government to rethink the nuclear policy.

Focused upon the emergence of the nuclear regime in Southeast Asia, this study is intended to conduct a comparative observation of nuclear politics in Indonesia and Thailand, two Southeast Asian nations with relatively new democratic experiences. By comparing nuclear politics in these new democracies, this study seeks to analyze similar and different structures of democratic institutions that shape how nuclear power is presented and contested. The comparative elements this study is designed to probe encompass three aspects related to the impacts of democracy to the ways in which nuclear power developments are arranged, materialized, and responded.  The first element is concerned with the nature of the state’s interests in nuclear power. In this element, the question asked is “how the state perceives the role of nuclear power to fulfill its immediate interests”. The second element to be examined is nuclear institutions in respective countries that cover the entire network of actors, state and non-state, supporting the nuclear enterprise. In this element, the question to be answered is “what kind of network structure propping up the nuclear regime to be effective in bringing about the necessity for nuclear power” The third element looks into anti-nuclear movements in the two countries in terms of the mobilization of counter-narratives, resources, and public supports.  Thus, the question is “to what extent democratic systems in Indonesian and Thailand facilitate anti-nuclear movements to take actions against the state.”