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. |
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... neo-Gramscian approach to the study of labour, social forces and globalization is particularly useful for addressing the questions posed above. Cox's approach is agent-centred and builds up a picture of social order from a bottom-up and ...
... Neo-Gramscian theory in international political economy Robert Cox's Gramscian approach to the study of social forces and globalization is particularly apt for examining questions of labour as agency. Cox's approach theorizes the ...
... neo-Gramscian terms, become an integral part of the neoliberal historical structure. Neoliberal ideology has also served to legitimize the state's retreat from provision of extensive social welfare, thus shifting the risks associated ...
... neo-Gramscian argument is that the decline of the historical bloc's hegemonic nature creates the conditions for resistance in the form of a counter-hegemonic movement. Cox follows Gramsci in viewing civil society as both the space in ...
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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 |