The Postdevelopmental State: Dilemmas of Economic Democratization in Contemporary South Korea (Perspectives on Contemporary Korea) - Softcover

Dr. Jamie Doucette Ph.D

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0472057081 ISBN 13: 9780472057085

Publisher: The University of Michigan Press, 2024

Synopsis

Over the last 25 years, South Korea has witnessed growing inequality due to the proliferation of non-standard employment, ballooning household debt, deepening export-dependency, and the growth of super-conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai. Combined with declining rates of economic growth and turbulent political events, these processes mark a departure from Korea’s past recognition as a high growth “developmental state.” The Postdevelopmental State radically reframes research into the South Korean economy by foregrounding the efforts of pro-democratic reformers and social movements in South Korea to create an alternative economic model—one that can address Korea’s legacy of authoritarian economic development during the Cold War and neoliberal restructuring since the Asian Financial Crisis of the late 1990s. Understanding these attempts offers insight into the types of economic reforms that have been enacted since the late 1990s as well as the continued legacy of dictatorship-era politics within the Korean political and legal system. By examining the dilemmas economic democracy has encountered over the past 25 years, from the IMF Crisis to the aftermath of the Candlelight Revolution, the book reveals the enormous and comprehensive challenges involved in addressing the legacy of authoritarian economic models and their neoliberal transformations.

About this title

About the Author

Jamie Doucette is Reader in Human Geography at the University of Manchester.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472057081
• ISBN 13: 9780472057085
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 234