My Car Modernity: What the U.S. Army Brought to South Korean Cinematic Imagination about Modern Mobility

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Sang Kim
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
Nuclear Family ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Cultural Logic ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The Family ◽  
Private Car ◽  
Free People ◽  
The U.S

This article examines the cultural logic of mobilization in postcolonial South Korea, promoted through American cinematic representations. In early 1946, the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea started importing and distributing American propaganda films. These audiovisual textbooks for “free people” praised private car ownership and self-determined mobility, attracting audiences with scenes of automobiles and expressways. This might have encouraged audiences to imagine a self-regulating and untrammeled unit where they could choose their own destination, speed, and companions, symbolized in the ideal type of car-owning nuclear family. Such representational expressions of “maik'a” (my car) were closely linked with the global transition after World War II, such as the nuclearization of the family, the rise of the automobile industry, and the emergence of small screens at home. This shows how South Koreans were exposed to a new, liberal technology of government under U.S. hegemony, after the cessation of Japanese railway imperialism.

Occupation, Diplomacy, and the Moving Image

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sueyoung Park-Primiano
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean War ◽  
Military Government ◽  
American Military ◽  
Cultural Imaginary ◽  
The Korean War ◽  
Educational Films ◽  
Straightforward Interpretation ◽  
The U.S

This chapter, by S. Park-Primiano, examines the use of noncommercial films by the U.S. military to facilitate its diverse roles during its occupation of South Korea in the aftermath of World War II. Used by the American Military Government in Korea, educational films aided the U.S. military's efforts to Americanize the Korean population and combat Communism. Films were also used to inform and rally support for its policy in Korea from American military and civilian personnel at home as well as abroad. For this purpose, the U.S. military sought cooperation from and enlisted the assistance of Korean filmmakers in the production of films about Korean culture and history that challenge any straightforward interpretation of Americanization or a unidirectional influence. Moreover, such conflicting efforts had a long-lasting effect in South Korea. It was a practice that was continued by the succeeding information apparatus of the U.S. State Department and the United Nations during the Korean War and beyond to further expose the need for a closer examination of U.S. control of the Korean cultural imaginary.

Automation, Transfer Machinery, and Mass Production in the U.S. Automobile Industry in the Post–World War II Era

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-138
Author(s):  
David A. Hounshell
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
Building Block ◽  
Mass Production ◽  
World War ◽  
Post World War Ii ◽  
Automobile Engines ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The U.S

First experimented with in the 1920s and 1930s in the production of automobile engines, transfer machines became dominant in U.S. engine plants in the 1940s and 1950s, as automakers invested heavily in this equipment to meet pent-up demand following the war. Transfer machines thus became identified with “Detroit automation”. But with the advent of a “horsepower race”, firms found that transfer machines could not accommodate even minor changes in design. Late in the 1950s the industry developed and applied “building-block automation” to transfer machines to attain greater flexibility. Examining these developments contributes to our understanding of both specific industries and the general history of mass production and its alternatives.

Land Reform in South Korea under the U.S. Military Occupation, 1945–1948

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inhan Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Occupation ◽  
Military Government ◽  
South Korean ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
The U.S

The conventional wisdom regarding land reform in South Korea implemented by the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) is that it was a partial and short-term palliative driven by the exigent Communist threat and the free-land program adopted in North Korea. This article offers a new interpretation of the motives, process, and impact of the land reform program under the U.S. military occupation, highlighting three points. First, the United States was serious about conducting a land-to-tiller program because of its desire to stop Communism and pave the way for democracy in South Korea. Both goals were important. Second, the partial reform in March 1948 is explained by volatile political circumstances in South Korea: strong Communist activity at the beginning of the occupation and the rise of intransigent conservatives at the end. Third, the U.S.-sponsored land reform catalyzed further reform by the new South Korean government by setting a precedent and establishing guidelines for land redistribution parcel sizes, prices, and payment schedules.

Development Delayed: U.S. Economic Policy in Occupied Korea, 1945–1948

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
James I. Matray
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Military Government ◽  
World War ◽  
American Occupation ◽  
38Th Parallel ◽  
Southern Korea ◽  
Occupied Territories ◽  
The U.S

AbstractOn 9 September 1945, U.S. military forces landed at Inchon to begin American occupation of southern Korea. For almost three years thereafter, a U.S. military government under the command of Lieutenant General John R. Hodge was responsible for civil affairs south of the 38th parallel. Its policies resulted in delaying Korea's economic development. Early in World War II, the U.S. government had begun preparations for the postwar administration of military government and civil affairs. At first, the focus was on Germany and its occupied territories, but during 1944, training began for 1,500 army and navy officers to serve in occupied Japan. The program ignored Korea, with the exception of a one-hour lecture in some classes near the end of the war. Plans to prepare civil affairs handbooks summarizing conditions in target areas for over thirty nations did not include Korea. Not surprisingly, many civil affairs officers who served in postwar Korea had trained for duty in Japan. They knew nothing about the country they were to govern and of course did not speak the language. Historians have argued that this lack of preparation was largely responsible for the failures of the American occupation. But other factors were more important in explaining the lack,

scholarly journals Industrial Relations in the U.S. Automobile Industry: An Illustration of Increased Decentralization and Diversity

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry C. Katz
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Auto Industry ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
World War ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Contingent Compensation ◽  
The U.S

This paper traces the evolution of employment relations in the U.S. auto industry over the post World War II period with particular emphasis on recent developments. There is a strong movement toward growing variation in employment relations within both the assembly and parts sectors of the auto industry. Variation appears both through the spread of more contingent compensation and team systems of work organization. There is also wide variety across plants and industry segments in basic employment systems including low wage, human resource, Japanese-oriented, and joint team-based approaches. Declining unionization is a particularly strong influence in the parts sector although nonunion operations have now spread to the assembly sector. While these trends are well illustrated by developments in the auto industry, they are trends common to other parts of the U.S. economy.

Work and Family in Industrializing America

1983 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-352
Author(s):  
Olivier Zunz
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Nuclear Family ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
World War ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
Wage Earners ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
The Relationship

« Work » and « family » : two major components of the human experience which have received concentrated attention. Labor historians, for example, have explored the changing modes of production, the evolving organization of work, and its effects on society. Historical demographers have focused on such family-related issues as the causes of recent fertility decline, the rise of the modem nuclear family, and the revolution in mores. The ways in which the world of the family and the world of work have evolved together, however, have not been as well studied as each separate topic. What is known of the relationship between work and family is that it is complex. In our introductory essay to this seminar. T. Caplow and I stressed the novelty — and impermanence — of the post World War II one wage-earner family. We also pointed to the changing role of women, and compared their role in today's labor force to that of the secondary wage-earners of the nineteenth century, the children

The Formation of a Budding Man Alone: The God Boy (Murray Reece, 1976)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Fox
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
World War ◽  
Value System ◽  
Feature Films ◽  
The Family

This chapter analyses the earliest of the New Zealand coming-of-age feature films, an adaptation of Ian Cross’s novel The God Boy, to demonstrate how it addresses the destructive impact on a child of the puritanical value-system that had dominated Pākehā (white) society through much of the twentieth century, being particularly strong during the interwar years, and the decade immediately following World War II. The discussion explores how dysfunction within the family and repressive religious beliefs eventuate in pressures that cause Jimmy, the protagonist, to act out transgressively, and then to turn inwards to seek refuge in the form of self-containment that makes him a prototype of the Man Alone figure that is ubiquitous in New Zealand fiction.

The Future of Global Great Power Competition after the Coronavirus

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
Burhanettin Duran
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
International System ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
World War ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The Future ◽  
Policy Agendas ◽  
The U.S

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic and foreign policy agendas of all countries have been turned upside down. The pandemic has brought new problems and competition areas to states and to the international system. While the pandemic politically calls to mind the post-World War II era, it can also be compared with the 2008 crisis due to its economic effects such as unemployment and the disruption of global supply chains. A debate immediately began for a new international system; however, it seems that the current international system will be affected, but will not experience a radical change. That is, a new international order is not expected, while disorder is most likely in the post-pandemic period. In an atmosphere of global instability where debates on the U.S.-led international system have been worn for a while, in the post-pandemic period states will invest in self-sufficiency and redefine their strategic areas, especially in health security. The decline of U.S. leadership, the challenging policies of China, the effects of Chinese policies on the U.S.-China relations and the EU’s deepening crisis are going to be the main discussion topics that will determine the future of the international system.

“I WRITE LETTER, AND AROUND GOES BATTLE”: CULTURAL GAPS IN WARTIME

2019 ◽  
pp. 67-72
Author(s):  
Anna Kimerling
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Cultural Models ◽  
Family Care ◽  
World War ◽  
Family Control ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Family ◽  
Care Practices ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
Cultural Gaps

The article is devoted to the features of the wartime culture. The source was a unique collection of letters from the fronts of World War II, written by political instructor Arkady Georgievich Endaltsev. The war led to the breakdown of familiar cultural models. It is important to understand how, adaptation to new standards occurred on an individual level. For A. Endaltsev, family care practices were a way to bridge cultural gaps. They are reflected in the letters. There, framed by ideologically verified stamps, one can find financial assistance to the family, control over the education of the daughter, the need for a continuous flow of information about the life of the wife and children.

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