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 82
... arguments. The book manuscript itself was prepared whilst holding a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Department of Geography at the University of Durham (2005—2006), and the Department was helpful in providing me with the resources to ...
... argue that 'there may be no country more deserving of democracy in our time than the Republic of Korea'. Following mass demonstrations in June 1987, the democratic compromise between the pro-democracy forces and existing political ...
... argued that the alleged 'decline of the state' amidst globalization has been exaggerated, and that states can and still do exert a degree of autonomy from the forces of international capital (Boyer and Drache 1996). Indeed, it has been ...
... argued that global capitalism responds to labour movement militancy in the core by relocating production to sites with cheaper and presumably more docile labour. However, while this has served to weaken labour movement in the sites of ...
... arguments made in this book will have implications for those seeking to derive practical strategies for those seeking to organize resistance to neoliberal globalization, the main point of departure is the broader question of the ...
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 |