CONSTRUCTING CONNECTIONS: TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATION BUILDING IN JAPAN AND GERMANY

Abstract

Governments and scholars frequently assert that transportation infrastructure plays a key role in constituting cohesive national communities, but this claim has long suffered from insufficient explication and theorisation. Calling attention to this underappreciated puzzle, this thesis serves as a theory generating exercise, working from the premises of social constructivism to propose a framework for how infrastructure may be productive of national identity and pride. I argue that three mechanisms – namely, societal mobilisation for infrastructure creation, opportunities for interpersonal connections through infrastructure use, and the symbolic power of infrastructure assets – can explain the ability or failure of transport projects to yield positive nation building outcomes. I illustrate this with reference to two case studies, the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network and the German Unification Transport Projects (VDE), applying the three mechanisms to explain the former’s relative success in nation building and the latter’s mixed results. I suggest that my model holds promise for scholars investigating both the politics of infrastructure and the politics of identity, as well as utility for policymakers looking to cultivate a nation by constructing connections both physical and imagined.