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The Controversy on Dichotomous ‘Exploitation Theory vs Colonial Modernization’ and the Idea of ‘Modernity’ Reconsidered: Varieties of ‘Modernity’ in Interdisciplinary Context (2019.12)

  • Authors : Doo-Jin Kim
  • Journal : The Journal of Asiatic Studies
  • Publisher : Asiatic Research Center
  • Volume : 62(4)
  • Publication Date : December, 2019
  • Abstract :Discussing the question of whether Japanese rule contributed to the modernization of Korea is much likely to be problematic. Should the idea of modernization continue to possess heavy political implications ? In comparison with the concept of modernity as fixed, unified or universal progress, it is often suggested that we posit amultiplicity of kinds and fields of modernity, and attempt to discern features of modernization rather than defining the nature of progress on the basis of one or two criteria. The notion of ‘multiple modernities’ may denote a certain view of colonial modernization in Korean society similar to the actual developments in modernizing non-Western societies. In Korean humanities circle, particular attention has been paid to the discourse on ‘colonial modernity’ vs ‘exploitation theory’, thus leading to the accumulation of the scholarly reinterpretations related to colonial modernity in the fields of Korean history. Korean nationalist historians presuppose an archetype of “Western modernity” on which colonial domination was based. The nationalist narratives remain prevalent in the colonial intellectual fashions they contest. By contrast, we argue that the varieties of modernity needs to be recognized in the context of interdisciplinary research, including transnational history perspective. The notion of ‘global modernity’ or ‘multiple modernities’ should be addressed to move away from the excessively value-laden use of the modernity. It is not sufficient to trace modernity as a linear movement of modern developments. Rather, recognition of modernities as the interplay of diachronic, synchronic and desynchronic actions should be carefully incorporated. We assume that the recognition of plural modernities allows us to better understand the controversy on colonial modernization. The idea of global modernity enables both Korean historiography circles to redefine varieties of modernites that go beyond their conventional perception on colonial modernization

Popularizing Grief: Tragedies and Tragic Events in Ancient Athens (2019.11)

  • Author : 안성준, 김남국
  • Journal : 정치사상연구 
  • Publisher : 한국정치사상학회
  • Volume : 25(2)
  • Publication Date : 2019년 11월
  • Abstract : This paper addresses an alternative perspective on how the political role of grief ought to be understood and examined in a democratic context. Against previous literature’s focus on grief as a singular means for the elites to manipulate the masses, we suggest that grief possesses various traits that each take part in stimulating the masses to certain political reactions. By cross-analyzing Sophocles’ Antigone and Thucydides’ account of Pericles’ Funeral Oration, we explore how the democratic citizenry have been triggered into reactionary political behaviors through grief. Specifically, this study asserts that the emotion of grief contains two political traits – contagiousness and antagonism – that, when triggered simultaneously, excites reactionary political movements from the masses.
  • 국문초록: 이 논문은 민주주의 사회에서 애도(哀悼)의 정치적 역할이 어떻게 해석되어야 하는지에 대한 대안적 관점을 제시한다. 이 주제에 대한 정치사상의 기존 연구는 주로 애도를 하나의 온전한 정치적 도구로 가정하고 정치 엘리트 집단이 어떤 방식으로 애도의 감정을 대중 전체의 정치행태를 조작하는데 사용해 왔는지를 중심으로 진행되어 왔다. 반면 본 연구는 애도가 다양한 정치적 특성을 지니고 있고 각각의 특성이 서로 다른 형태로 대중을 자극한다고 주장한다. 본 연구는 소포클레스의 ‘안티고네’와 투키디데스의 ‘페리클레스의 장례 연설’을 교차분석하여 어떻게 고대 그리스 민주시민 공동체가 애도를 통해 때로는 반동적 정치 행태를 보이고 때로는 보이지 않게 되는지 알아본다. 특히 이 연구는 애도의 두 가지 정치적 특성인 전염성(contagiousness)과 반목성(antagonism)이 동시에 발현될 경우 대중적 저항 운동의 가능성이 매우 높아짐을 주장한다.

원문링크

The Thailand-US Alliance after the Asian Financial Crisis: The Security Implications of International Economic Policy (2019.11)

  • Author : Iordanka Alexandrova
  • Journal : The Southeast Asian Review
  • Publisher : Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies
  • Volume : 29(4)
  • Publication Date : June, 2019
  • Abstract : This article explains Thailand’s reduced commitment to the security alliance with the United States (US) in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. It argues that the economic pressure Washington applied against Bangkok was the primary cause of the change in Thailand’s policy. In the aftermath of the crisis, the US pushed for economic restructuring in Thailand, which hurt the interests of elite groups in the financial and corporate sectors, and the labor they employed. Fearing future losses, these social actors demanded that the leadership defend their interests against further foreign interference in the domestic economy. Thailand’s bargaining power vis-à-vis the US, however, remained relatively weak due to its excessive reliance for security on the great power ally. To regain policy autonomy, the governments of Chuan Leekpai and Thaksin Shinawatra attempted to minimize security dependency by reducing alliance commitment and investing in alternative strategies to improve Thailand’s own defensive capabilities.

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Why, When, and How the US Dollar Was Established as World Money (2019.10)

  • Author : Kyuteg Lim
  • Journal : Peace Studies
  • Publisher : Korea University Peace and Democracy Institute
  • Volume : Vol.27 No.2
  • Date : 2019. 10

Abstract : In the International Political Economy literature, it has been argued that either the strength of US national economy, US political power, or institutional developments determined the universal acceptance of the US dollar during the Bretton Woods era. These explanations do not appreciate the role of the US dollar outside the sphere of market exchange and the system of inter-states. Drawing on insights from the heterodox tradition of monetary thought, this paper argues that European states played a decisive role in developing the US dollar as world money in two ways. As European states used the US dollar as abstract measure of value for rebuilding their war-torn economies and issuing various debts, these European practices led to the institutionalization of the US dollar as world measure of value at the end of the Bretton Woods system. Furthermore, as European states began to place US dollar reserves in the Eurodollar market from the early 1960s, the dynamic of the Eurodollar market developed the US dollar as cross-border credit and debt relations in the early 1970s. In particular, US Treasury debts became ‘risk’-free assets crucial to financial globalization processes

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Why, When, and How the US Dollar Was Established as World Money (2019.10)

  • Author : Kyuteg Lim
  • Journal : Peace Studies
  • Publisher : Korea University Peace & Democracy Institute
  • Volume : 27(2)
  • Publication Date : October, 2019
  • Abstract : In the International Political Economy literature, it has been argued that either the strength of US national economy, US political power, or institutional developments determined the universal acceptance of the US dollar during the Bretton Woods era. These explanations do not appreciate the role of the US dollar outside the sphere of market exchange and the system of inter-states. Drawing on insights from the heterodox tradition of monetary thought, this paper argues that European states played a decisive role in developing the US dollar as world money in two ways. As European states used the US dollar as abstract measure of value for rebuilding their war-torn economies and issuing various debts, these European practices led to the institutionalization of the US dollar as world measure of value at the end of the Bretton Woods system. Furthermore, as European states began to place US dollar reserves in the Eurodollar market from the early 1960s, the dynamic of the Eurodollar market developed the US dollar as cross-border credit and debt relations in the early 1970s. In particular, US Treasury debts became ‘risk’-free assets crucial to financial globalization processes.

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Does Regionalism Matter? Local Politics and Foreign Direct Investment in South Korea (2019.07)

  • Author : Dong-Hun Kim, Sunwoo Paek
  • Journal : Asian Education and Development Studies
  • Publisher : Emerald Publishing
  • Volume : 8(3)
  • Publication Date : July, 2019
  • Abstract : The purpose of this paper is to examine how political/authoritarian regionalism affects foreign direct investment (FDI) in sub-national states in South Korea. This paper employs statistical analysis to examine the relationship between regionalism and FDI, along with historical description of regionalism in South Korea. The analyses suggest that not only authoritarian regionalism influence foreign investment to the region but also political regionalism matters. Sub-national states with higher authoritarian regionalism receive less foreign investment while sub-national states with high political regionalism, which imply political stability, receive more FDI than others. The paper examined how local politics influence foreign investments in South Korea, and suggests stronger decentralization will positively influence FDI in the future.

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The European Union’s Policy Toward North Korea: Abandoning Engagement (2019.06)

  • Author : Iordanka Alexandrova
  • Journal : International Journal of Korean Unification Studies
  • Publisher : Korean Institute for National Unification
  • Volume : 28(1)
  • Publication Date : June, 2019
  • Abstract : This article helps understand the change in the European Union (EU)’s policy toward North Korea. In the first phase of their relationship, the EU actively participated in the security dialogue on the Korean Peninsula and engaged North Korea through economic and humanitarian assistance. Since 2003, Europe abandoned the conciliatory approach and repeatedly condemned Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests, while disengaging from regional security initiatives. This change was a byproduct of the consolidation of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. Two of its main features restricted the range of diplomatic options available to the EU in dealings with North Korea. The first was the designation of a possible Weapons of Mass Destruction arms race in the Middle East as an issue of highest security concern for Europe. The second was a firm commitment to the relationship with the United States in addressing security threats. In order to maintain the consistency of its foreign strategy, the EU stopped tolerating activities related to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Moreover, its policies became consistent with Washington’s line of action, which required terminating economic support and discontinuing independent diplomatic engagement with the “rogue” state.

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Critique of Hannah Arendt’s Mysterious Concept of ‘Thinking’ in ‘Life of Mind’ (2019.05)

  • Authors : Chiwon Choi
  • Journal : The Korean Review of Political Thought
  • Publisher : Korean Society For Political Thought
  • Volume : 25(1)
  • Publication Date : May, 2019
  • Abstract : The reality or true identity of Arendt’s theory is not well understood, and its value is exaggerated. Arendt’s theory is repeatedly reproduced through the ‘Arendt scholarly cottage industry’. In the context of criticizing it, this study explores that Arendt’s ‘thinking’, while transformed into a superhistorical notion, becomes a empty theory in relation to the reality. In its core, there is an aestheticization of thinking through literature and art, and Heidegger provides a important theoretical foundation. Arendt’s method of aesthetic thinking is closely tied to the way she idealizes thinking. And these aestheticized and ideationalized thinking leads to a moralized thinking. This moralized thinking, however, is empty. Arendt’s concept of thinking reveals many contradictory and conflicting moments, and there are many deficiencies in form and substance. Arendt’s ‘thinking’, which is aesthetized, ideationalized and moralized, located out of the realm of practice. ‘Thinking’ is not situated in a reality but a literary poem or ‘nunc stans’ and has the activity there. ‘Thinking’, which lives and is active in a place where only God knows or no one knows, can not proceed to the realm of praxis. In other words, Arendt’s theory can not be an actual theory for political action based on ‘thinking’. No matter how much ‘politics’ is put forward and emphasized, not all theories are political theories.

The Impact of Brexit on European Security: Rationale for Post-Brexit EU-UK Security Cooperation

  • Authors : Doo-Jin Kim
  • Journal : Zeitschrift der Koreanisch-Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Sozialwissenschaften
  • Publisher : K-G Association For Social Sciences
  • Volume : 29(1)
  • Publication Date : March, 2019
  • Abstract :The UK has traditionally played an ambivalent role in European security and defence policy-making. With Brexit, the EU might lose one of its two serious military players. The Brexit also raises questions about the future relationship between the US and the United Kingdom. Over the short-to medium term Brexit will make the UK less valuable as a diplomatic and economic partner to the US. The EU is unlikely to afford the UK a strong role in the formulation of its security policy. In the face of US President Trump’s ambivalence towards NATO, some authors have suggested Brexit will not negatively impact either the UK’s ability to continue to work with its European security partners. The Franco-British relationship is often mentioned as a possibility. Under new post-Brexit circumstances, NATO may act as a bridge between Brussels and London, and become a platform for cooperation. The British perspective assumes that Britain should seize the opportunity to recast its role on the world stage and forge a foreign policy independent of both the US and the EU.

Why Has Singapore Not Democratized? An Example of Regional Studies Using Comparative Methods

  • Author :  Jae Hyeok Shin
  • Journal : The Southeast Asian Review
  • Publisher : Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies
  • Volume : 29(2)
  • Publication Date : May, 2019
  • Abstract : A conventional research method in regional studies is the single-case study that typically requires field research for a deep understanding of the context of a country or a region. In this article I investigate why Singapore has not democratized as an example of regional studies using comparative methods. Such regional studies can raise the importance of research questions deriving from single-case studies, increase the validity of arguments, and contribute to the development of theories in social sciences.