The State, Class and Developmentalism in South Korea: Development as Fetish

by Hae-Yung Song

Overview

This book problematises the statist underpinnings of the concept of the ‘developmental state,’ in terms of both state–society and national–global relations, challenging the notion that the state is the agent of national development qua being autonomous from the domestic and global economies.

Presenting a thorough and comprehensive critical assessment of the extant approaches and theories of the Korean developmental state in particular, this book demonstrates that the existing literature, including Marxist critiques, only inadequately and partially challenge statism. It examines how statism reinforces and is reinforced by ‘Third World Developmentalism’, the idea that ‘development’ is in itself a positive goal and that a nationally autonomous mode of development should be promoted as a means of empowerment. In opposition, this book offers a critique of statism by constructing an alternative theoretical framework, extending Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism to state–society and national–global relations.

Drawing on a new theoretical framework and significant Korean literature, The State, Class and Developmentalism in South Korea offers a novel historical interpretation and critique of the developmental state in the Korean context. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Asian studies, Development Studies and International Political Economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367354725
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/18/2019
Series:	Routledge Advances in Korean Studies
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Hae-Yung Song works on political theory, development theory and the political economy of South Korea. She has taught at Warwick University and worked for the South Korean government in the areas of international relations and diplomacy. She currently teaches at Graduate School of International Studies, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: the developmental state, ‘Third World developmentalism’ and the fetishism of national development

PART I

Forging, reinforcing and reproducing the statist concept of the developmental state

1 Antithesising the state and the market, and the national and the global: forging the statist concept of the developmental state

2 Linking the state and the market: reinforcing the statist concept of the developmental state’

3 Old assumptions in new debates: reproducing the statist concept of the developmental state

PART II

Theorising the developmental state beyond statism

4 Traditional Marxist theories of the state as class content analysis and their application to the Korean developmental state

5 An alternative Marxist theory of the state: social form critique and its application to the Korean developmental state

6 Theorising the developmental state beyond statism: a critique of the fetishism of national development

PART III

The global and social origins of the Korean developmental state and its transformation

7 The rise of the modern Korean state: capitalism by imperialism and capitalism from above

8 The global and social origins of the Korean developmental state

9 The dialectic of political and economic liberalisation, and the transition of the Korean developmental state

Conclusion: democratisation, fetishisation and the transformation of the developmental state

Bibliography

Index