Professor Emeritus of Social Ecology and of Planning, Policy and Design
Ph.D. Cornell University
Specializations:
Technocapitalism, critical political economy, international development
Luis Suarez-Villa specializes in the study of technology, corporate capitalism, and international development from the perspectives of critical political economy and socio-ecologic analysis.
His most recent book—Technology and Oligopoly Capitalism—provides critical, multidisciplinary perspectives on the power of technology oligopolies in American society. A systemic scope, the breadth of concepts and technology sectors, and a vast number of examples and documentation, are among the important features of this contribution. Concepts and phenomena considered in this work may likely characterize the panorama of technology in the twenty-first century.
Among the concepts formulated and discussed by Professor Suarez-Villa in this book are: Uselabor, regarding oligopolistic control over social media usage and online searches; Consumer exploitation, involving control over product pricing and markets; Dual and compound oligopoly, to explain how technology oligopolistic power over markets builds up; Capacity-price engineering, regarding price-setting, capacity manipulation and market power; Entry-barrier engineering, to explain how technology oligopolies protect their power; Data exploitation, addressing the importance of data appropriation and clouds for technology oligopolies; Technological fetishism, to explain how oligopolistic power influences socio-cultural beliefs to promote consumption; Wants contrivance, to address how technology oligopolies promote unnecessary consumption, addictions and waste; Taxpayer exploitation, regarding oligopolistic power over the martial domain, its geopolitical projections and warfare; Systematized research regimes, applied to oligopolistic control over research, product development, and the exploitation of intangibles; Network extent, applied to explain the importance of networks, their topologies and lock-in for technology oligopolistic power; Financialism, applied to the fusion of oligopolistic finance with technology oligopolies to induce speculation; Eco-social dysfunction, applied to address how technology oligopolies contribute to excessive waste, and to its harmful effects on health and nature; Totalistic control structure, regarding the supra-structure (or alter state) imposed by techno-oligarchic elites over society and its governance. Description and details: https://www.routledge.com/Technology-and-Oligopoly-Capitalism/Suarez-Villa/p/book/9781032386157.
A previous book—Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State—explored the rising influence of oligopolistic corporations on society and public governance in the United States, and their effects on politics, finance, regulation, consumption, production, and inequalities. Description and details: https://sunypress.edu/Books/C/Corporate-Power-Oligopolies-and-the-Crisis-of-the-State.
Technocapitalism—an evolution of capitalism grounded in technological innovation and scientific discovery—was explored in his books Technocapitalism: A Critical Perspective on Technological Innovation and Corporatism, and in his Globalization and Technocapitalism: The Political Economy of Corporate Power and Technological Domination. New sectors grounded in this evolving version of capitalism—such as genomics, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence—are now hallmarks of the twenty-first century, much as the automotive industry and aviation were of the twentieth. These sectors fundamentally depend on creativity and research, building on prior stages of capitalism that depended on factory production and mercantile trade. Description and details: https://tupress.temple.edu/books/technocapitalism and https://www.routledge.com/Globalization-and-Technocapitalism-The-Political-Economy-of-Corporate-Power/Suarez-Villa/p/book/9781138271661.
Professor Suarez-Villa’s earlier work on technocapitalism involved his book Invention and the Rise of Technocapitalism, exploring foundational aspects of this emerging phenomenon. Historical United States data spanning the twentieth century, with cyclical empirical analyses of invention patenting, infrastructure, and the application of his concept of innovative capacity, provided many insights on trends and dynamics. Description and details: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781461601364/Invention-and-the-Rise-of-Technocapitalism.
Early work related to technocapitalism also involved his introduction of the concept of innovative capacity. Empirical analyses of inventive performance over a 106-year period (1880-1986), cyclical phenomena, infrastructure, and territorial distribution, were at the core of this research. First publication on innovative capacity in academic journal Behavioral Science (vol. 35, 1990, pp. 290-310, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bs.3830350404).
Among his other publications on innovative capacity were the analyses of the relationship between public infrastructural investment and the development of innovative capacity in the United States, with extensive twentieth century data—in academic journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change (vol. 44, 1993, pp. 333-358, https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/technological-forecasting-and-social-change/vol/44/issue/6)—and his analyses of the territorial distribution of innovative capacity with twentieth century U.S. data, in academic journal Geographical Analysis (vol. 25, 1993, pp. 147-164, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1538-4632.1993.tb00286.x); along with his work on the accumulation of innovative capacity in technocapitalism, in academic journal Science and Technology Studies (vol. 14, 2001, pp. 4-20, https://sciencetechnologystudies.journal.fi/article/view/55133/17968). His work on innovative capacity was also published (by invitation) in Innovative Behaviour in Space and Time (pp. 291-305, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-60720-2_15), and (also by invitation) in Modern Classics in Regional Science: Regional Dynamics (pp. 65-82, https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/regional-dynamics-9781858981116.html).
Professor Suarez-Villa’s repertory of research on technology also encompassed biotechnology and its ecology of collaboration, providing extensive empirical evidence on the relevance of collaborative research arrangements and alliances in advancing discoveries. Among his academic publications on this emerging sector were articles in the International Journal of Biotechnology (vol. 5, 2003, pp. 402-438, https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJBT.2003.004104) and in the International Journal of Technology Management (vol. 27, 2004, pp. 452-464, https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJTM.2004.004281).
This research built on his prior work on the ecology of technological innovation diffusion in communication networks, considering typologies of network structure, and the barriers found in territorial networks. Formulation and identification of barrier networks as a specific typology provided insights on how disparities occur in the adoption of innovations. Among publications on this research, his article in academic journal Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie provided conceptual insights on network topologies and their territorial dimensions (vol. 83, 1992, pp. 93-104, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9663.1992.tb01759.x). Research related to this interest also involved collaborative networks in the digital economy, and their implications for transportation, published in academic journals Growth and Change (vol. 34, 2003, pp. 390-414, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.0017-4815.2003.00227.x) and Small Business Economics (vol. 10, 1998, pp. 5-16, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007962114667); and (by invitation) in Network Strategies in Europe: Developing the Future for Transport and ICT (pp. 13-35, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315248165-11/networks-innovative-capacity-experimental-firm-implications-regional-development-policy-luis-suarez-villa). In addition, his co-edited book Innovation, Networks and Localities featured articles by twenty scholars exploring the links between innovative technology networks, location, territoriality, and policy (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-58524-1).
Professor Suarez-Villa’s earlier research on technology and innovation considered the advanced electronics corporate domain, the ecology of R&D (Research and Development) and territorial factors, with extensive empirical analyses of survey data on production, labor, and strategic organization. Among the various national and regional contexts considered were:
–South Korea, in the academic journals Economic Geography (vol. 66, 1990, pp. 273-292, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2307/143401) and Regional Studies (vol. 25, 1991, pp. 327-343, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343409112331346527);
–Sweden, in academic journal Environment and Planning A (vol. 28, 1996, pp. 783-817, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/a280783);
–Austria, in academic journal Regional Studies (vol. 29, 1995, pp. 19-42, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343409512331348783);
–Spain, in academic journal Urban Studies (vol. 33, 1996, pp. 1155-1197, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00420989650011564);
–the Los Angeles metropolitan region, in the academic journals International Journal of Technology Management (vol. 24, 2002, pp. 818-842, https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJTM.2002.003084) and Urban Studies (vol. 34, 1997, pp. 1343-1380, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/0042098975466). The latter publication included a comparative analysis of Silicon Valley and the Los Angeles region, and was awarded the Donald Robertson Memorial Prize.
Professor Suarez-Villa’s other early work related to technology considered cyclical dimensions of production processes, industrial linkages, labor, and development policies. Among the contexts researched were:
–Brazil, in academic journals Papers in Regional Science (vol. 53, 1983, pp. 43-58, https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1435-5597.1983.tb00803.x), Pesquisa e Planejamento Econômico (vol. 19, 1989, pp. 161-182, https://ppe.ipea.gov.br/index.php/ppe/article/view/946), and the Revista Brasileira de Economia (vol. 40, 1986, pp. 233-255, https://periodicos.fgv.br/rbe/article/view/368/6706).
–United States, in academic publications Journal of Regional Science (vol. 23, 1983, pp. 547-552, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9787.1983.tb01010.x), Estudios Territoriales (vol. 27, 1988, pp. 13-26, https://www.cemci.org/hemeroteca/reconversion-industrial-cambio-tecnologico-y-planes-de-desarrollo-metropolitano-337), and in his book The Evolution of Regional Economies (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/abs/evolution-of-regional-economies-entrepreneurship-and-macroeconomic-change-by-luis-suarezvilla-westport-ct-praeger-1989-pp-xvii-263-4500/35F8ADB89FA1E33FC2C73D3A1A0DE1CC#access-block).
–Mexico and the United States border region, in academic journals Annals of Regional Science (vol. 19, 1985, pp. 54-108, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01294831), and Comercio Exterior (vol. 33, 1983, pp. 950-960, http://revistas.bancomext.gob.mx/rce/magazines/239/7/RCE7.pdf).
–Cross-national syntheses, in academic journals Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali (vol. 37, 1990, pp. 381-407, https://www.econbiz.de/Record/international-trends-in-electronics-manufacturing-and-the-strategy-of-industrialization-su%C3%A1rez-villa-luis/10001087937), Papers in Regional Science (vol. 54, 1984, pp. 89-111, https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1435-5597.1984.tb00818.x), Annals of Regional Science (vol.16, 1982, pp. 48-56, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01293286), and the Canadian Journal of Regional Science (vol. 8, 1985, pp. 307-331, https://idjs.ca/images/rcsr/archives/V8N3-Suarez-Villa.pdf).
Among other topics researched by Professor Suarez-Villa—some of which are related to technology—were the dynamics of territorial evolution, hierarchies, production, innovation, and urban systems involving:
–his concept of regional inversion, in academic journal Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie (vol. 93, 2002, pp. 424-442, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9663.00214), and his related work on the dynamics of disparities, in academic journals Papers in Regional Science (vol. 72, 1993, pp. 369-387,
https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1435-5597.1993.tb01883.x), and the International Regional Science Review (vol. 15, 1993, pp. 121-156, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/016001769301500201). His work in this research interest was also published (by invitation) in Modern Classics in Regional Science: Regional Dynamics (pp. 217-252, https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/regional-dynamics-9781858981116.html), and (also by invitation) in Regional Science: Retrospect and Prospect (pp. 279-316, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-76311-3#toc).
–Urban hierarchies, in academic publications Journal of Regional Science (vol. 22, 1982, pp. 315-324, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9787.1982.tb00755.x, and vol. 20, 1980, pp. 91-97, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9787.1980.tb00628.x), Pesquisa e Planejamento Econômico (vol. 17, 1987, pp. 121-159, https://ppe.ipea.gov.br/index.php/ppe/article/view/1012), and Estudios Territoriales (vol. 31, 1999, pp. 521-536, http://catalogofaud.mdp.edu.ar/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1248).
–Natural disasters and technology production, in academic journal Disasters (vol. 23, 1999, pp. 19-44, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-7717.00103).
–Cross-territorial syntheses, in academic journals Urban Studies (vol. 25, 1988, pp. 1-20,
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00420988820080011), Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali (vol. 34, 1987, pp. 369-391, https://www.econbiz.de/Record/entrepreneurship-and-the-international-diffusion-of-innovations-in-manufacturing-a-general-approach-su%C3%A1rez-villa-luis/10001028114), Estudios Territoriales (vol. 32, 2000, pp. 651-667, https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=177514), Revue d’Economie Régionale et Urbaine (vol. 9, 1987, pp. 59-79, http://geoprodig.cnrs.fr/items/show/178151), and (by invitation) in Knowledge, Complexity and Innovation Systems (pp. 165-180, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-662-04546-6).
In perspective, Professor Suarez-Villa’s work on technology evolved from his interest in micro facets and phenomena—explored conceptually and empirically—toward macro analyses involving systemic, socio-ecologic and evolutionary dimensions. A multidisplinary approach to phenomena was at the core of his work. Significant aspects of Professor Suarez-Villa’s work on technology have been the depth and breadth of his research. Exploring the innovative, labor, institutional, industrial, economic, policy, organizational, geopolitical, temporal, philosophical, territorial and urban dimensions of technology from multiple perspectives have been part of his academic endeavors. His research has provided many path-breaking insights on the multi-faceted panorama of technology that will likely characterize the twenty-first century.
Professor Suarez-Villa has extensive international experience, and has pursued his research interests in various nations in Europe, North America, Latin America, and East Asia. He has twice been awarded Fulbright fellowships for research and teaching. He has also been awarded honors and fellowships by numerous organizations, such as the National Science Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Cornell University, the University of California, and the Organization of American States. Professor Suarez-Villa’s educational background was diverse and multidisciplinary. He earned his doctorate at Cornell University in 1981, where he pursued studies in regional planning, economics, and international development. His first university diploma was in architecture and architectural engineering, followed by two master’s degrees (regional planning, urban design), but his academic interests subsequently encompassed the fields of technology, social ecology, and regional studies.
Luis Suarez-Villa has been a faculty member of the University of California since 1982, and was a co-founder of the Department of Planning, Policy and Design at the University of California, Irvine. He was also a founding faculty member of the School of Social Ecology. Professor Suarez-Villa has been affiliated at various times with New York University’s Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, UCLA, the United Nations, the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain’s National Scientific Research Council (CSIC), the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil, and the Institute of Technological Research at the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). He was also affiliated (by invitation) with scholarly activities at the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) and the Tinbergen Institute (Netherlands). Professor Suarez-Villa is fluent in five languages, and has traveled to 56 nations around the world in relation to his academic work.