Late Industrialization, Tradition, and Social Change in South Korea

Description: "Contrasting South Korea's historical situation to that in which Europe, the United States, and other developing countries industrialized, Yong-Chool Ha considers how a country can progress economically while relying on traditional social structures that usually fragment political and economic vitality. Instead of seeing neofamilism as a hindrance to growth or as a propagandistic tool, Ha demonstrates that the familial system was critical to Korea's economic transformation"--

Brief description: Clark W. Sorensen is professor of international studies and anthropology in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, where he is also director of the Center for Korea Studies. He is the author of Over the Mountains Are Mountains: Korean Peasant Households and Their Adaptations to Rapid Industrialization (University of Washington Press, 1988) and coeditor of Reassessing the Park Chung Hee Era, 1961-1979: Development, Political Thought, Democracy and Cultural Influence (Center for Korea Studies, University of Washington, 2011).

Review Quotes:

"This book speaks across multiple disciplines in East Asian studies. It should be read by all those who wish to engage with the role of tradition at a deep level in late industrializing economies. The understudied role of tradition in the industrialization of East Asia adds a necessary dimension to the methodology of science and technology studies in general."