Course Title
Technology, Science, and Culture in Taiwan
Professor
Diederik Vandewalle, Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth; Adjunct Professor at Tuck School of Business
Date
December 2024
Destination Cities
Taipei and Tainan
Course Description
As one of the “Asian Tigers”, Taiwan’s development since 1945 has transformed a once overwhelmingly agrarian society into a technological juggernaut that now manufactures nearly 90% of the world’s most intricate and sophisticated computer chips.
This remarkable transformation has relied on intricate patterns of interaction between the local government, industry and local society that delivered high rates of growth and also transformed Taiwan from a military autocracy into a modern democracy.
Through our company visits and exposure to some of Taiwan’s culture, this GIX will explore how the government at different times selectively both guided and withdrew from the economy, and how local society and culture became enmeshed into a successful development strategy that endures today.