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JSIS A 448/ANTH 448
Fall 2022
MODERN KOREAN SOCIETY

Week V:
November 1st and 3rd:
Thinking about Middle Classes


Tuesday: Democratization, the 386 Generation, Globalization and the Currency Crisis of 1987, Kim Dae Jung and neoliberal restructuring.

Thursday: Hyosuni, Misoni and anti-Americanism in 2002; Mad Cow Disease and the Myungbak Lee Administration


Begin Term Paper this Week (assignment posted afternoon of November 3rd)


Discussion (summary due)

  • What does Koo say are the dominant trends among the middle class today?
  • To whwat extent does Koo find South Korea unique, and to what extent typical of advanced economies?
  • What is the chungsanch'ung and why is it important? What's the difference between classes based on objective criteria, and those based on consciousness?  
  • How do middle classes distinguish themselves? Is Korea different from the US or Europe in this regard?

Reading:

  • Hagen Koo , Privilege and Anxiety, Chapters 1, 2 & 3
  • One of the following:
  • Myungji Yang, "Shrewd Entrepreneurs or Immoral Speculators? Desires, Speculation, and Middle-Class Housewives in South Korea, 1978-1996," in Gender and Class in Contemporary South Korea(ed. Hae Yeon Choo, John Lie, and Laura Nelson (Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2019), 37-60 (chapter 3) (available on course website)
  • Jee Eun Regina Song, "Soybean Paste Girl: The Cultural and Gender Politics of Coffee Consumption in Contemporary South Korea," Journal of Korean Studies 19(2):429-48. (available electronically in UW library).

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 Last Updated:
9/22/2022

Contact the instructor at: sangok@u.washington.edu