Korean Workers and Neoliberal Globalization

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Routledge, Mar 7, 2013 - Political Science - 208 pages

One of the most remarkable aspects of South Korea’s transition from impoverished post-colonial nation to fully-fledged industrialized democracy has been the growth of its independent and dynamic labour movement. Korean Workers and Neoliberal Globalisation examines current trends and transformations within the Korean labour movement since the 1990s.

It has been a common assumption that the ‘third wave’ of democratisation, the end of the Cold War, and the spread of neoliberal globalisation in the latter part of the 20th century have helped to create an environment in which organised labour is better placed to overcome bureaucratic national unionism and transform itself into a potential counter-globalisation movement. However, Kevin Gray argues that despite the apparent continued phenomena of labour militancy and the rhetoric of anti-neoliberalism, the mainstream independent labour movement in Korea has become increasingly institutionalised and bureaucratised into the new capitalist democracy. This process is demonstrated by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ experience of participation in various forms of policy making forums. Gray suggests that as a result, the KCTU has failed to mount an effective challenge against processes of neoliberal restructuring and concomitant social polarisation.

The Korean experience provides an excellent case study for understanding the relationship between organised labour and globalisation. Korean Workers and Neoliberal Globalisation will appeal to students and scholars of Korean studies and International Political Economy, as well as Asian politics and economics.

From inside the book

Contents

Introduction
1
1 Neoliberal globalization labour and resistance
12
2 Globalization crisis and the entrenchment of neoliberalism in Korea
31
3 The rise and fall of militant labour unionism in Korea
52
4 Social movement unionism and the Korean labour movement
71
5 Latedemocratization and low intensity social corporatism
92
6 Korean labour and the struggle against neoliberalism
110
7 The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions social reform struggle
130
Conclusion
150
Notes
162
Bibliography
170
Index
189
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About the author (2013)

Kevin Gray is RCUK Research Fellow in the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex.

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