Product Description

Examines how the dynamics of inter-party and intra-party coalition-building have affected governability in post-authoritarian South Korea. The main contention being that a weak institutionalisation of both the ruling party and the party system accounts for political instability and the lack of strong governability in South Korea.

Product Description
Korean cinema as industry, art form, and cultural product. ... Read more

Product Description
The International group of contributors of this volume provides, collectively, a multi-layered analysis of the emerging East Asian media culture, using the Korean TV drama as its analytic vehicle. By closely examining the political economy of TV industry, audiences of the regional media flows in terms of gender subjectivity constructions, perceptions of colonial-postcolonial relationships, and nationalist responses to trans-national media culture exchanges, this volume highlights the multiple connectivities and implications of popular cultural flows and exchanges in East Asia.

In spite of the obvious flows and exchanges that constitute pan-East Asian Pop Culture as a relatively coherent unit, the academic research community is far behind the cultural industry producers who have long factored the regional consumer market into their production and marketing. This volume is motivated by the need to find both the conceptual and institutional site(s) for the constitution of an East Asian Pop Culture. The resulting discoveries demonstrate that this culture co-exists with US domination in global media industry, and offers new empirical and conceptual insights into cultural globalization which cannot be ascertained in existing US-centric analyses. ... Read more

Product Description
This is Volume III in the Anthology of Korean Studies.Korean anthropology holds a unique position in the field of anthropology, having first developed with native scholars studying native culture under the prevalent influence of cultural and social anthropology, rather than with the past western practice of studying the Other. Since the 1980s, several attempts have been made to examine Korean culture from different points of view, such as political economy and area studies. This trend is visible in the articles contributed to the Korea Journal over the past forty years. While the early articles focus mainly on Korean shamanism and folklore, the emphasis shifts in the latter half to more diverse subjects such as Koreans abroad and changes in Korean communities under the social, economic, and political influences of the modern times. This volume, Korean Anthropology: Contemporary Korean Culture in Flux, presents 30 original articles carefully selected from the Korea Journal covering all aspects of Korean culture seen through the distinct viewpoints of anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, geographers, architects, folklorists, and psychiatrists. The articles, chosen under the guidance of Professor Han Kyung-Koo, are arranged along five major themes. Articles in Part I discuss different ways of understanding Korean culture including traditional conceptualization and utilization of nature and living space, and representations abroad. Part II looks at the changes and continuities in Korean communities and beliefs under the social and political influences of modern Korea, ranging from Saemaeul Movement, religious conflicts, and marriage customs. Part III focuses on Korean women in "patriarchal" Korean society and the male-female relationship in contemporary Korea. Among featured subjects are women on Jeju-do island, female workers in multinational corporations, and family relations. Shamanistic rituals and fortunetelling, the main theme of Part IV, are still prevalent in Korea alongside modern medicine and cutting-edge technology despite the conflicts and confusion brought on by the rapid industrialization and westernization of Korean society. While some traditions have been discarded, other have been retained in a different or compromised form. This brings us to the final Part V which explores how various social relationships are formed and maintained within modern Korean society: men and women continue to rely on kinship and social ties to survive in a highly competitive and centralized society. Intended to be an introductory yet comprehensive collection of readings on Korean culture, we hope this volume will stimulate further debates and discussions on Korean culture and society. ... Read more

Product Description
South Korea has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best book about Korean society during the 1970s-90s
In their book 'Empire', Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri talked about the 1996-7 workers' general strike in Seoul, South Korea as one of the historical events against Empire.

Koo's book about working-class formation in Korea shows and analyzes how progressive andsometiems militant working-class movement of a large scale has been possible and grown up as a major political force in one of the East Asian countires which often have been well known for their docility of labor forces under conservative political rule.

This book has several merits:

1) it shows the process of working-class formation in the context of contemporary Korean development. Many books about Korean development have been written mainly in an economistic way. This book reveals people's lives and voices more realistically in the historical process.

2) while describing the historical process, Koo also tries to put his arguments on the theoretical base of weorking-class formation, especially E. P. Thompson. I think his way of doing this is very successful in this book.

3) Many books about working-class formation are mainly about the histories in the European context or Latin America. This book shows uniquely how the process has happened in the context of East Asian development.

His book is not only describing but also theoretical and analytical. And his book does not lose both academic rigidity as well as sympathy for workers' movement for social progress. With in-depth interviews of labor movement activists and the use of many domestic materials, Koo also could escape superficial observations and dry abstraction.

I find that this is one of the great books not only about contemporary Korean society but also about global working-class history. Additionally, regarding informative social (movement) history of Korea of the same period, I strongly recommend Nancy abelmann's book about famers' movement and Sunhyunk Kim's book about civil movements. ... Read more

Product Description
Traditional Korean music includes both the folk and courtmusic styles of the Korean people. Korean music is based onBuddhist and native shamanistic beliefs. Buddhist andshamanistic dancing, and shamanistic drum music, areextant, as is a melodic, dance music called sinawi.Traditional Korean music can be divided into at least fourtypes: courtly, aristocratic, scholarly, and religious. ... Read more

Product Description
Korea has been going through major changes since 1992, including a civilian government, opening the financial markets, restructuring of chaebols, changing roles of women, and new relations with North Korea. There have also been cultural changes which reflect on the Korean way of doing business and of living. The knowledge and skills for coping with these changes need to be mastered by those who want to interact with Koreans. The need for interpersonal relationships and good communication should be emphasized. This is a reference to understanding changing cultures and business practices in Korea for scholars, and a comprehensive guide to Korean business practice, protocol, and communications styles for professionals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Encounting new culture
You start the business in South Korea but you don¡¯t know how to discuss the contract with your Korean partner? You are a foreigner working for a Korean company and don¡¯t know how to get along with your new colleagues? Then this is a book for you. The author, Eun Young Kim, is of Korean origin recently working in a cross-cultural consulting company in Texas. Using both her domestic and international experience she is just the right persone to eximine the problems connected with cross-cultural intercourse.
The book consists of 3 main parts.
The first part introduces the country, provides basic information on Korean political and economical situation. It presents Korean culture, while paying a special attention to traditional values of Korean society, sex and family roles, food and leisure habits, and its evolution in the changing society.
The second and third parts deals essentially with doing business in Korea. What is particulary nice about this book is that it not simply depict the problem, indeed, it is full of useful tips. For example, in the chapter 6 "Working through the Korean System" the author talks about different perceptions of contract that exist in Korean and American business cultures. But she also provides the reader with advice on prevention of possible problems while discussing the terms and conditions of the agreement.
The book is well written and the organization of paper makes the reading smooth and pleasant. It can be used as a reference book for businessmen or a interesting reading for all foreigners planning to stay in the Republic of Korea.
A few generalisations and sometimes vague statements are minor shortcomings of this book. The historical part requires some basic knowledge of Korean history, so if used as a text book it would be reasonal to use additional resources.
The complete and conclusive research of a society as quickly changing as Korean is very unlikely to be ever published. However this book can be a reliable source of information and of a great help for everyone interested in encounting Korean culture. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of ten essays written by leading Koreanistsand scholars of Korean film. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite an outdated book about Im Kwon-taek
The last movie mentioned by the author is Tae-baek Mountains, but "Chun-hyang" seems to be too new for the author already, not to mention the "Chwi-hwa-seon" as well.But it gives us some knowledge about the idea of Im's movie.Quite good if you are facinated by Im's movie and want to know more about him, especially his past. ... Read more

Product Description
Lanterns on the River collects a series of reflective and interpretive essays on contemporary Korean life and culture. Diane M. Hoffman views Korea through a cross-cultural window, offering the non-Korean reader a base for understanding and appreciating aspects of Korean life. Among the topics these essays address are: the role of emotion in Korean life, the theme of conformity, the influence of religion, and the nature of the relationship between men and women. Hoffman has an anthropologist's interest in cultural meanings and values; however, the book also offers unique insights into themes not commonly addressed in the existing scholarly literature. "Lanterns on the River" is thus a hybrid genre, and as such will have appeal not only for scholars of Asia and Korea and students of cultural anthropology and social psychology, but also for the general reader interested in the various dimensions of life in contemporary Korea. ... Read more