Contemporary South Korean Society

The growing importance of the Korean economy in the global arena and the spread of the so-called 'Korean wave' in Asia mean there is an increasing desire to understand contemporary Korean Society. To this end, this book provides a critical and progressive analysis of the diverse issues that impact on and shape contemporary Korean society at both local and national levels.The contributors address issues and movements which include:The state and regime Human rights Gender Civil society and social movements Culture Religion Domestic and migrant labour WelfareThe chapters in this volume provide a critical perspective on Korean society, and draw upon interdisciplinary research from across the social sciences. With contributions from leading Korean scholars and academics from around the world, this is a welcome addition to the growing field of Korean Studies, and will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in Korean studies, Korean and Asian culture and society, and Asian studies more generally.

Preface, Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra, and Hyo-Je Cho 1. The Structure of the South Korean Developmental Regime and Its Transformation:An Analysis of the Developmental Regime of Statist Mobilization and Authoritarian Integration in the Anticommunist Regimentation, Hee-Yeon CHO 2. Gender Inequality and Patriarchal Order Recontexualized, CHO Uhn 3. Regionalism: Its Origins and Substance with Competition and Exclusion, Kim, Wang-Bae 4. Economic Development and Women's Status in Korea, KONG Mee-Hae 5.Social Class and Income Inequality in Korea, SHIN Kwang-Yeong 6. Changes in Social Movements in the Post-Dictatorship Context in South Korea-Focused on Three Dimensions, Hee-Yeon CHO 7. Growth and Crisis of the Korean Citizens' Movement, Kim Dong-Choon 8. Two Concepts of Human Rights in Contemporary Korea, Hyo-Je CHO 9. A Frame Analysis of Women's Policies of Korean Government and Women's Movements in the 1980s and 1990s, Kyounghee Kim 10. The Netizen Movement: A New Wave in the Social Movements of Korea, Jinsun Lee 11. Corruption in government-business relations in Republic of Korea, Rajiv Narayan 12. The environmental movement in South Korea, Sungbok Yun 13. South Korea - the "making" of a working class in a newly industrialized country, John Minns 14. Neoliberal Globalization and Labor Relations in Korea, Lee, Byoung-Hoon 15. Labor Movements in Democratized Korea: An Old or New Social Movement?, Lee Yoonkyung 16. Mobilizing the Public Opinions for/against Foreign Labor Policies in Korea, 1995-2005: NGOs, Trade Unions, and Employers Association in Contested Terrain, Dong-Hoon Seol