Compressed Modernization

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Compressed Modernization Developmentalist
Mentalités of South Korea

• Kang Myungkoo

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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.

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Compressed modernization(2)

• From poverty to affluence
• From authoritarian state to democratic
  consolidation
• Expansion of civil society
• Drastic urbanization

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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

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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

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Rapid Economic Growth
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Rapid Growth
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Rapid Growth
International Monetary Fund, International
Financial Statistics
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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
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Key Components WithinKorean Mentalitae

• Favoritism
• Materialistic Value System
• Nationalism (our countryuri)
• Closed-minded familism

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Favoritism

• Favoritism A display of partiality toward a
  favored person or group.
• Examples Nepotism and cronyism
• Us (uri ??) VS Them mentality
• A persons bloodline, hometown, school, church
  can greatly affect his/her public and private
  life.
• Examples employment, career, business,
  socio-economic class, marriage, friends
• Result Corruption

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The Chaebol A Family Business
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The Chaebol A Family Business
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Corruption Perceptions Index 2010
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The High Price of Corruption
Wawoo Apartment, 1969
Seong-soo Bridge, 1994
Sampoong Department Store, 1995
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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

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Reuters/Ipsos Poll 2010Koreans are the most
materialistic people?
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The Most Overworked People
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(No Transcript)
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World Happiness Index
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Stressed-out
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Korean NationalismThe Red Devils
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Korean NationalismDokdo
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Korean NationalismMulticultural Family
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The Family in Korean DramasSecret Garden
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The Family in Korean DramasMy Name is Kim
Sam-soon
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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.