Peasant Protest and Social Change in Colonial Korea

by Gi-Wook Shin

Overview

The period from 1876 to 1946 in Korea marked a turbulent time when the country opened its market to foreign powers, became subject to Japanese colonialism, and was swept into agricultural commercialization, industrialization, and eventually postcolonial revolutionary movements. Gi-Wook Shin examines how peasants responded to these events, and to their own economic and political circumstances, with protests that shaped the course of postwar revolution in the north and reform in the south. Utilizing interviews, documentary research, and statistical analysis, Shin analyzes variation in peasant activism and its historical, political, and socioeconomic roots, and offers a major revisionist interpretation. The study contributes to an understanding of Korea’s rural political economy during the colonial era, Japanese agricultual policy, and the historical legacy of colonialism for post war social and political change in Korea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295975481
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	02/01/1997
Series:	Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gi-Wook Shin is director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, as well as holder of the Tong Yang, Korea Foundation, and Korea Stanford Alumni Chair of Korean Studies.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chronology

Note on Romanization

Introduction

Explaining Peasant Protest: An Integrated View

Social change and Land Tenure in Traditional Korea

Colonialism and Korean Agriculture: Growth without Development

Tenant-Landlord Conflict, 1920-32: Ideology or Interest?

The Red Peasant Union Movement, 1930-39, Part 1: An Overview & Critique

The Red Peasant Union Movement, 1930-39, Part 2: History from Below

Tenant-Landlord Conflict, 1933-39: Class and Nation

Japanese Militarism and Everyday forms of Resistance, 1940-44

Historical Origins of Peasant Radicalism in Liberated Korea

Conclusion: Toward Reform and Revolution

Appendix 1: Main Activities of Red Peasant Unions

Appendix 2: Peasant Radicalism Index in Relation to Number of Red Peasant Unions and Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Religious Variables

Appendix 3: Leadership Characteristics in Selected Red Peasant Unions

Appendix 4: List of Counties Analyzed

Notes

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

Bruce Cumings

This is an excellent book, the particular strength of which is its concise and coherent analysis, bringing together a fine grasp of sociological theory and extensive knowledge of the Korean land system and peasant protest. It is simply one of the best books yet on Korean society.

Editorial Reviews

Examines how peasants responded to economic and political events of the period with protests that shaped the course of postwar revolution in the north and reform in the south, looking at tenancy disputes, the red peasant union movement, and the rebellion of 1946, and the ways in which the intensity and nature of protest varied over time and across regions. Of interest to sociologists, historians, and those in related social science fields. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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