1st Edition

The State, Society and Big Business in South Korea

By Yeon-Ho Lee Copyright 1997

    This book examines how the South Korean state is able to execute national policies that are opposed to the interests of social constituents, despite the expansion of social power. The relationship between the government and big business provides an illuminating example of this. The author demonstrates how Confucian values, the role of the family and a firm hierarchical tradition have prevented South Korea from developing a modern state on the Western model.

    Chapter 1 State autonomy and big business; Chapter 2 The origin and growth of the chaebôl, 1948–79; Chapter 3 Criticisms of the chaebôl; Chapter 4 Regulating the chaebôl, 1980–93; Chapter 5 The sources of state autonomy; Chapter 6 Liberal-pluralism, neo-Marxism, corporatism and state—chaebôl relations; Chapter 7 Alternative modernity and strong state autonomy vis-à-vis the chaebôl; Chapter 8 Conclusion;

    Biography

    Yeon-ho Lee is an Economic and Social Research Council Fellow, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick.