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May 15, 2020 | |
9780295747200 | |
English | |
232 | |
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$99.00 USD, £76.00 GBP | |
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May 15, 2020 | |
9780295747217 | |
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232 | |
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v2.1 Reference | |
Korean Skilled Workers
Toward a Labor Aristocracy
South Korea's triumphant development has catapulted the country's economy to the eleventh largest in the world. Large family-owned conglomerates, or chaebŏls, such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG, have become globally preeminent manufacturing brands. Yet Korea's highly disciplined, technologically competent skilled workers who built these brands have become known only for their successful labor-union militancy, which in recent decades has been criticized as collective "selfishness" that has allowed them to prosper at the expense of other workers.
Hyung-A Kim tells the story of Korea's first generation of skilled workers in the heavy and chemical industries sector, following their dramatic transition from 1970s-era "industrial warriors" to labor-union militant "Goliat Warriors," and ultimately to a "labor aristocracy" with guaranteed job security, superior wages, and even job inheritance for their children. By contrast, millions of Korea's non-regular employees, especially young people, struggle in precarious and insecure employment.
This richly documented account demonstrates that industrial workers' most enduring goal has been their own economic advancement, not a wider socialist revolution, and shows how these individuals' paths embody the consequences of rapid development.
Hyung-A Kim tells the story of Korea's first generation of skilled workers in the heavy and chemical industries sector, following their dramatic transition from 1970s-era "industrial warriors" to labor-union militant "Goliat Warriors," and ultimately to a "labor aristocracy" with guaranteed job security, superior wages, and even job inheritance for their children. By contrast, millions of Korea's non-regular employees, especially young people, struggle in precarious and insecure employment.
This richly documented account demonstrates that industrial workers' most enduring goal has been their own economic advancement, not a wider socialist revolution, and shows how these individuals' paths embody the consequences of rapid development.
About the Authors
Endorsements
"This thorough analysis of Korea's skilled workers from a historical and sociopolitical perspective will attract much attention from students of labor politics in Asia and other newly industrialized economies."—Hagen Koo, author of Korean Workers: The Culture and Politics of Class Formation
Hardback | |
May 15, 2020 | |
9780295747200 | |
English | |
232 | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
1.05 Pounds (US) | |
$99.00 USD, £76.00 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Paperback / softback | |
May 15, 2020 | |
9780295747217 | |
English | |
232 | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
$30.00 USD, £22.99 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Other Titles by Hyung-A Kim
Reassessing the Park Chung Hee Era, 1961-1979
edited by Hyung-A Kim, Clark W. Sorensen
Aug 2015
- University of Washington Press
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Other Titles by Clark W. Sorensen
Carving Status at Kŭmgangsan
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The Power of the Brush
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Peace Corps Volunteers and the Making of Korean Studies in the United States
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Other Titles from Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
Buddhas and Ancestors
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The Emotions of Justice
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Jul 2017
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Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920-1925
Michael Edson Robinson, preface by Michael Edson Robinson
Sep 2015
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Other Titles in HISTORY / Asia / Korea
Seeds of Control
David Fedman, foreword by Paul S. Sutter, series edited by Paul S. Sutter
Jul 2020
- University of Washington Press
$40.00 USD
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