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US-Japan Conflict and the Rise of the Synthetic in Global Capitalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Keisuke Yamada Open the ORCID record for Keisuke Yamada [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

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Over the twentieth century, various types of synthetic fibers were invented, mass-produced, and widely distributed across the globe. This article analyzes the political power that was exercised to generate this innovation in musical instrument industries. Synthetics also contributed to the growth of the global garment, textile, sporting goods, and military industries, among many others. This article specifically discusses the politics behind the transition from the use of silk to nylon during the World War II and Cold War eras. Modern cultural industry's tendency in the mid- to late twentieth century to favor synthetic and other “man-made” fibers over natural ones was importantly shaped by political-economic—and political-ecological—conflicts between the United States and Japan, especially during World War II. These conflicts prepared the ground for the rise of global capitalism's synthetic regime.

Keywords

capitalismcritical theorycultural industrygeopoliticsglobal historymaterialitypolitical ecology
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 18 , September 2021 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

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