Organizer: Gi-Wook Shin, University of California, Los Angeles
Chair and Discussant: Michael Robinson, University of Southern California
This panel explores a widely discussed but little researched issue, the origins and nature of anti-communism, anti-Americanism, and nationalism in contemporary Korea. While it is now well-recognized that anti-communism has been a major ideological basis of authoritarian rule in postwar Korea, and that anti-American, nationalist rhetoric prevailed in 1980s political and social activism, little comprehensive study has been done to closely explain such phenomena in historical context. This panel will offer a forum to discuss the roots of the main ideological developments in postwar Korea.
Chang will first discuss the origins of anti-communism and its use in authoritarian politics in postwar Korea with its general implication for Korean political development. He will especially focus on the legal basis of anti-communist ideology.
Shin then will discuss the process by which anti-communism lost its dominance and was replaced by anti-Americanism by the late 1980s. He will attend to intellectual debates in his explanation of the ideological basis of anti-Americanism in the context of 1980s pro-democracy movements. Special attention is paid to the influence of Marxism and nationalism.
Choe focuses on Kwangju in his examination of the rise of anti-Americanism and nationalism since 1980. Given the historical significance of Kwangju as a city that witnessed the 1980s uprisings and subsequent massacre, his discussion can capture the depth and nature of anti-American sentiments among Koreans.
Finally, Kim will examine anti-Americanism and nationalism at the popular level. With an examination of labor disputes in a U.S. owned multinational company, she will show how nationalism and anti-Americanism have been redefined through debate and conflict among female workers.
As a panel, four papers will show how different ideologies are created, challenged, redefined, and modified in postwar Korea, both at the intellectual and popular levels.
Robinson, an authority on Korean nationalism, will be the discussant for the panel.
Gi-Wook Shin, University of California, Los Angeles
This paper examines the intellectual roots of anti-American movements in 1980s Korea. Noting the frequent appearance of anti-American rhetoric during the 1980s democratization movements, it focuses on the process by which anti-Americanism has been articulated as a major ideological resource in the movements. Especially the influence of Marxism and nationalism (particularly in the form of North Korean chuch'e ideology) will be closely examined through an analysis of protest leaflets and writings of dissident intellectuals and student activists. It will also evaluate the success and limits of Korean radicalism and its future.
Sug-Man Choe, Chonnam National University, Korea
This paper explores the roots and nature of anti-Americanism and nationalism in the city of Kwangju. Kwangju has an historical significance for the rise of contemporary Korean nationalism, since the Kwangju uprisings of 1980 were a turning point for subsequent anti-American, nationalistic, pro-democracy movements. Through an analysis of various social attitude surveys and other related works, this paper evaluates the depth and nature of anti-American sentiments among the Kwangju residents. It will also relate to the broader issue of the rise of nationalism during the 1980s pro-democracy movements.
Hyun Mee Kim, University of Washington
With an analysis of labor disputes in a U.S.-owned multinational corporation, this paper explores Korean working class women's political and cultural negotiations in the context of the newly evolving international division of labor. Given the multi-vocal nature of nationalism in the Korean political context of the late 1980s, the women workers' political protest presents a historical case in which nationalism, anti-imperialism, and anti-Americanism have been redefined through debate and conflict. By differentiating these women's own interpretation from elite discourse, this paper seeks to come to grips with the real nature of the minjung discourse in contemporary Korea. In contrast to the ideologically laden, abstract elite discourse, it will be shown that women workers interpret and act upon what nationalism means to them on the basis of their lived experience.
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