Vikings and Tigers: Finland, Sweden, and adoption of environmental technologies in Southeast Asia's pulpand paper industries

• Main Author: David A. Sonnenfield
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2015-08-01
• Series: Journal of World-Systems Research
• Online Access: http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/141

This paper examines structural dimensions of the influence of core-per iphery relations on adoption of environmental technologies in newly industrializing countries (NICs), using Nordic involvement in development of Southeast Asian pulp manufacturing in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a case study. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Southeast Asia was one of the first places in the world to employ new cleaner technologies in pulp and paper manufacturing. How did this happen? This paper argues that adoption of these technologies was influenced by dynamics within the world-system combined with the intentional actions of firms, states, and social movements over a 30-year period. The paper concludes that diffusion of the new environmental technologies is resulting in cleaner production in the periphery even while being part of a trend toward increased polarization between core and peripheral states, economies, and firms. Data were gathered from fieldwork in Southeast Asia from 1993-96; correspondence with Nordic firms, organizations and individuals in attendance and interviews at industry trade shows; and use of available data. Portions of the paper are derived from a larger study of adoption of environmental technologies in the pulp and paper industries of Southeast Asia and Australia.