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Explore the rapid economic growth and modernization in South Korea, along with the developmentalist mentalités that shaped its society. Understand the origins, impact, and challenges of this compressed modernization process.
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Compressed Modernization& Developmentalist Mentalitésof South Korea Kang Myungkoo
What is compressed modernization? • Rapid economic growth • Rapid modernization (urbanization, industrialization, democratization, formation of civil society, etc) • From the state to everyday life, Korean society and people have experienced drastic changes.
Compressed modernization(2) • From poverty to affluence • From authoritarian state to democratic consolidation • Expansion of civil society • Drastic urbanization
Why developmentalist mentalitae? • Korean people share common ways of life, ways of thinking, ways of behavior or structure of feelings, called developmentalist mentalitae. • What is it? • Strong desire of being rich without asking why I want to be rich, what kind of life I want to live through • Final results legitimize process. • Efficiency tells everything. Top-down, authoriatarian decision-making process is prevalent. • Lack of civic virtues • Always be ready for struggling to win the game
Where does the developmentalist mentalitae come from? • Colonial rule and Korean war • Authoritarian state • Uncertainty of living • Competition as a matter of life and death • Experience of poverty and affluence in one generation
Rapid Growth International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics
Behind the Scenes -Economic growth was accomplished mostly through governmental favors given to conglomerates, or chaebol. -Government favoritism: government actively suppressed any group that might disadvantage conglomerates, such as new competitors or labor unions -Result: rampant nepotism, authoritarian business culture, lack of public ethics, economic polarization
Key Components WithinKorean Mentalitae • Favoritism • Materialistic Value System • Nationalism (“our” country—“uri”) • Closed-minded familism
Favoritism • Favoritism: A display of partiality toward a favored person or group. Examples: Nepotism and cronyism Us (uri 우리) VS Them mentality • A person’s bloodline, hometown, school, & church can greatly affect his/her public and private life. • Examples: employment, career, business, socio-economic class, marriage, friends • Result: Corruption
The High Price of Corruption Wawoo Apartment, 1969 Seong-soo Bridge, 1994 Sampoong Department Store, 1995
Materialistic Value System • Materialistic person: a person who is markedly more concerned with material things (such as money and possessions) rather than spiritual, emotional, intellectual, or cultural values. • Contributing factors: rapid industrialization, high competition, homogeneity, weak social safety net • Objectifying and commodifying every aspects of life, including the body, academic prowess, marriage partners, success
Reuters/Ipsos Poll 2010Koreans are the most materialistic people?
Conclusion • Developmentalist mentalités combined with consumerism, Confucianism, and the cold war state have molded and defined the mental and physical structure of every aspect of Korean life. • Corrupt systems, scanty social safety nets, the absence of civil moral virtues, and the survival-driven high-stress competitiveness are a few of the negative aspects of Developmentalist mentalités. • However, it is difficult to transcend developmentalist mentalités, being deeply rooted within the very existence of Korea. The developmentalist mentalités is deeply rooted as a default perspective of the world within the government, enterprises, public organizations and family sectors. • Ironically, Koreans’ obsession with “uri (us, we)” bind us to benefiting the in-group and ostracizing the rest, disabling a society were all of “us” can lead better lives.
