Korean Workers and Neoliberal GlobalizationOne 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
Results 1-5 of 18
... Gills and Dr Louise Amoore of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The comments and constructive criticisms of my PhD examiners, Dr Robert O'Brien of McMaster University and Dr Rod Hague of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne were ...
... (Gills 1993). The constrained nature of the Korean democratic transition has had important implications for the development of organized labour in Korea. It has raised questions as to whether labour unions are able to challenge such ...
... (Gills and Gills 1999) and its effects on organized labour. The double transition refers to the fact that the spread of the Washington Consensus in the global South was accompanied by the spread of the 'third wave' of democratization ...
... Gill calls this 'oligopolistic neoliberalism': oligopoly and protection for the strong and a socialization of their risks, and market discipline for the weak (Gill 19951405). Labour in particular has been increasingly subjected to ...
... (Gills and Gills 1999). In the non-Communist global South, democratization had its immediate origins in domestic popular struggles. However, the worldwide transition towards a nominal or formal democracy took place in the wider context ...
Contents
1 | |
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 |