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 6-10 of 84
... labour unions are beginning to regain their 'social movement characteristics' and to take a more oppositional and dynamic stance. With increasing cases of transnational solidarity amongst labour unions (Gorden and Turner 2000, Herod ...
... trade unions and capitalism, the developments outlined above suggest that such a view is both spatially and temporally limited. Beverley Silver (2003) has argued that global capitalism responds to labour movement militancy in the core ...
Kevin Gray. labour. ISMU stresses the increasing tendency amongst labour movements to explicitly create linkages with ... unions and the KCTU in particular, during the general strike of December 1996—January 1997. Later, we watched with ...
... unions being formed. In the long run, however, democratization posed a significant challenge to the continued qualitative development of the labour movement. Under authoritarianism, harsh repression of the labour movement tended to ...
... labour movements and construct a model of how labour is responding to neoliberal restructuring. However, this ... unions, at the same time, the KCTU has followed a 'zig-zag' approach with regard to tripartite institutions. The institutional ...
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 |