Küyerelleşme sayesinde gücün geri kazanımı ve ekonomik egemenliğe meydan okuma: Neal Stephenson'un Elmas Çağı; ya da Genç Bir Kadının Resimli Okuma Kitabı romanında akıllı güç

Written by Neal Stephenson in 1995, The Diamond Age or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (The Diamond Age) is a post-cyberpunk novel depicting a world controlled by powerful nation-states in which nanotechnology penetrates itself to all aspects of life. The novel based on the historical Boxer Rebellion, a movement that was organized by a Chinese anti-Christian group in China in the turn of the twentieth century, deals with the challenges of globalization (such as cultural homogenization, poverty, post-scarcity economics). As a response to these challenges, this dissertation argues that The Diamond Age posits the construction of glocal spaces and identities as well as the development of glocal policies through the enactment and dissemination of "smart power." In this respect this dissertation advocates "smart power" as an indispensable component of the glocalization process. It will demonstrate how in Diamond Age, power actors try to strengthen their claimed positions by combining various power strategies adapted from soft and hard power types (such as cultural attraction, military power, oppressive financial enforcements, diplomatic charisma). This is understandable since in reality, nation-states so as to become culturally unique and powerful in the world arena, need to form their policies and products revolving around their own authentic culture. Of course, this can be unlocked through self-empowerment, cultural and historical awareness, and integrity. Otherwise, a "glocalization process" without a compass serves only for the needs of "globalization" since they are intertwined most of the time. By acknowledging various power theories, this study will analyze and compare the historical and fictional versions of the Boxer Rebellion. It intends to scrutinize the power politics inherent in the The Diamond Age by drawing a parallelism between the historical Boxer Rebellion and its fictional version. It reads the fictional victory of China in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion as the victory of smart power and glocalization. In this respect, hard and soft power types are defined along with globalism and locality so as to explain and to elaborate on the altered official ending of the Boxer Rebellion. Deducing from the novel The Diamond Age, it will be argued that in order to be a powerful and free nation, "glocalization" and "smart power" have to be wielded together as a combination since they complete each other. For this reason, it can be said that in a world which is dominated by hegemonic and ever-controlling global powers, the rise of China depends on a rebellious act: an act that takes its momentum from local historical, cultural values and a clever fusion of soft and hard power types: Smart Power. Keywords: Globalization, Glocalization, The Boxer Rebellion, Soft Power, Hard Power, Smart Power, Power Politics, International Relations, The People's Republic of China, The United States of America, Self-empowerment, Nanotechnology, Conflict, Consensus, Post Cyberpunk, Nanopunk, Science Fiction