The Postdevelopmental State: Dilemmas of Economic Democratization in Contemporary South Korea(Perspectives on Contemporary Korea)

Over the last 25 years, South Korea has witnessed growing inequality due to the proliferation of non-standard employment, ballooning household debt, deepening export-dependency, and the growth of super-conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai. Combined with declining rates of economic growth and turbulent political events, these processes mark a departure from Korea’s past recognition as a high growth “developmental state.” The Postdevelopmental State radically reframes research into the South Korean economy by foregrounding the efforts of pro-democratic reformers and social movements in South Korea to create an alternative economic model—one that can address Korea’s legacy of authoritarian economic development during the Cold War and neoliberal restructuring since the Asian Financial Crisis of the late 1990s. Understanding these attempts offers insight into the types of economic reforms that have been enacted since the late 1990s as well as the continued legacy of dictatorship-era politics within the Korean political and legal system. By examining the dilemmas economic democracy has encountered over the past 25 years, from the IMF Crisis to the aftermath of the Candlelight Revolution, the book reveals the enormous and comprehensive challenges involved in addressing the legacy of authoritarian economic models and their neoliberal transformations.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents List of Figures List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction: After the Revolution Chapter 1: The Democratic Deficit of Developmental State Theory Chapter 2: The Political Economy of the Postdevelopmental State Chapter 3: Debating Economic Democracy Chapter 4: Social Democracy Without Labour? Chapter 5: The Integral State of the Conservative Bloc Conclusion: The Future of a Problematic? Methodological appendix Endnotes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Jamie Doucette is Reader in Human Geography at the University of Manchester.

Review :
“This is one of the very best books on contemporary South Korean politics and economics that I have read. It is a tremendous contribution to the fields of Korean studies, geography, and economic history. The study is executed with precision; it is thoroughly and ethically researched; and it is theoretically ambitious.” “This outstanding book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to gain a better understanding of contemporary South Korean society, particularly the challenges faced by liberal and progressive reformers who have sought to overcome the legacies of neoliberalism and the developmental state during a time of expanding inequality. Exploring such challenges at the nexus of political institutions and civil society, Doucette provides compelling insight into the aspirations as well as the limitations that have shaped attempts to realize both social democracy and economic democracy. While this book focuses on South Korea in the wake of the massive anti-authoritarian protests that helped bring about a peaceful transfer of power in 2017—known as the Candlelight Revolution—Doucette also offers a timely perspective for wider regional and global analyses of political-economic transformation.” “The Postdevelopmental State provides powerful new insights into the contradictory processes of economic democratization in South Korea in recent decades. Jamie Doucette does so by calling into question widespread notions of the developmental state. He provides an alternative approach that translates Gramsci’s concept of the integral state and demonstrates the considerable political stakes of this alternative approach. This book will be of great interest to scholars and activists in other regions of the world.” “Several of the biggest topics gain coverage here and the book contains more insight from local debates than one finds in most other treatments. The reader, especially the nonspecialist reader, will gain both a sense for what are the key points of public contestation in Korea and the arguments made by participants.” "Far more than just an analysis of the South Korean developmental state, The Postdevelopmental State is also an important analysis of South Korean democracy...Doucette's account should be essential for those desiring to understand the politics of this new social question, as well as students of South Korean politics, but it should also be a required reading for anyone interested in the complex inequality that shapes contemporary politics across the globe." "Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty." "The book's relevance extends beyond South Korea, and it speaks to broader struggles over development and democracy in places where the developmental state model remains or is emerging as influential." "Doucette's book is a timely intervention in ongoing debates on economic governance, challenging resurgent assumptions that elite-led state developmentalism remains a viable alternative to address the current crisis."