Democratization and Changing Anti-American Sentiments in South Korea

Asian Survey ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Hun Oh ◽  
Celeste Arrington

This study takes a disaggregated approach to the analysis of recent anti-American sentiments in Korea. It examines how the political changes entailed in the processes of democratization and democratic consolidation in the arenas of civil society, political society, and the state have diversely affected anti-U.S. sentiments in Korea.

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oren Barak

This article explores the divergent ways in which the state, the political society, and the civil society in Lebanon have addressed the Civil War (1975-90) in the postwar era. More specifically, I explore the interplay between actors operating within these spheres concerning three contentious questions: a) Should the war be remembered and commemorated? b) Who is responsible for the war? c) How to consider Lebanon's modern history in light of the war? The discussion highlights both the possibilities and constraints of civil society groups in post-conflict settings.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Lucio Oliver Costilla

Resumo Este artigo aborda as atuais mudanças em curso na América do Sul, desde uma sociologia política crítica a partir de uma análise das interconexões entre sociedade política e sociedade civil, em especial gramsciana. Ela propõe ser a chave para construir um campo de problemas teóricos e metodológicos vinculados à teoria crítica e a questão do Estado em sentido integral, que permitam entender o que acontece na sociedade política (a disputa de projetos políticos) e, sobre tudo, na sociedade civil (o universo de ideologias, valores, visões de mundo em jogo). A questão não se trata aceitar a ótica dos autores políticos que dirigem as mudanças em marcha, se não configurar teoricamente a problemática das mudanças. Sugiro que este enfoque de estudo permita valorizar a capacidade de intervenção institucional e político-social das forças progressistas e perguntar se estão apostando, ou não, a elevar os níveis de organização e consciência das massas populares, questão chave na construção hegemônica. Conclui-se que a questão central a elucidar na última década e meia de governos progressistas na América do Sul é saber qual o Estado que se precisa para uma sociedade em expansão e empoderamento, e qual a sociedade civil necessária para sustentar, aprofundar ou consolidar as novas políticas em um sentido emancipador. Palavras-Chave: Crises e reconfiguração da América Latina. Ruptura epistemológica. Construção de problemáticas sociológicas. Crítica e política nas mudanças da América Latina.---ResumenEste articulo aborda las actuales mudanzas en curso en América del Sur desde una sociología política critica a partir de una análisis de las interconexiones entre sociedad política y sociedad civil en clave gramsciana. Propone que clave construir un campo de problemas teóricos y metodológicos vinculados a la teoría crítica y a la cuestión del Estado en el sentido integral, que permitan entender lo que acontece en la sociedad política (la disputa de proyectos políticos) y sobre todo en la sociedad civil (el universo de ideologías, valores, visiones del mundo en juego). La cuestión no pasa por aceptar la óptica de los actores políticos que dirigen los cambios en marcha, sino configurar teóricamente la problemática de los cambios. Sugiero que este enfoque de estudio permite valorar la capacidad de intervención institucional y político-social de las fuerzas progresistas y preguntarse si están apostando , o no, a elevar los niveles de organización y conciencia de las masas populares, cuestión clave en la construcción hegemónica. Se concluye que la cuestión central a dilucidar en la última década y media de gobiernos progresistas en América del Sur es saber cuál es el Estado que se precisa para una sociedad en expansión y empoderamiento, y cuál la sociedad civil necesaria para sustentar, profundizar o consolidar las nuevas políticas en un sentido emancipador.Palabras Clave: Crisis y reconfiguración de América Latina. Ruptura epistemológica. Construcción de problemáticas sociológicas. Crítica y política en las mudanzas de América Latina.---AbstractThis article covers the current changes taking place in South America, from a critical political sociology to an analysis of the interconnections between political society and civil society, especially Gramscian. This may be the key to building a field of theoretical and methodological problems linked to the critical theory and the issue of the State, which enables an understanding of the political society (the dispute of political projects) and, above all, of the civil society (the universe of ideologies, values, worldviews at stake). It is not a question of accepting the perspective of political figures that drive the ongoing changes, but to establish, theoretically, the issue of change. I suggest that this study approach will allow develop the ability of institutional and political-social intervention of the progressive forces and question if they are trying, or not, to raise levels of organization and consciousness of the masses, the key issue is in the hegemonic construction. I conclude that the key issue, from the last decade and a half of progressive governments in South America, is to know which is the state that is required for a society in expansion and empowerment and, in an emancipatory sense, which is the civil society needed to sustain, strengthen or consolidate the new policies. Keywords: Crisis and reconfiguration of Latin America. Epistemological rupture. Construction of sociological issues. Critical and political changes in Latin America.


Author(s):  
Serhii O. Komnatnyi ◽  
Oleg S. Sheremet ◽  
Viacheslav E. Suslykov ◽  
Kateryna S. Lisova ◽  
Stepan D. Svorak

The article deals with the mechanism of impact of sociopsychological phenomena such as the national character and the political mentality in the construction and functioning of civil society. It aims to show the impact of climate, religion, and the perception of happiness on the state of civil society through details of a national nature. The main research method is to compare data from global research on the state of civil society with data from climatic conditions, dominant religions, and happiness indices. The article proves coincidently that these factors are reflected in such essential characteristics of civil society as "openness" and "closed-mindedness". The interaction between the national character and the construction of civil society has two stages. It is concluded that the results obtained are important to evaluate the prospects for the construction and development of civil society in different countries and regions of the world. Further research in this direction involves the study of other aspects of the impact of national character and political mindset on the functioning of civil society.


1969 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Friesen

Historically human societies have never collectively organized, politically or socially, in any singular, standardized and/or universal way. Beginning with the Peace of Westphalia in 1647 the nation-state gradually proliferated as a legitimate manifestation of collective human organization at a global level. This proliferation has culminated in the standardization of a singular means of mobilizing and organizing human societies. The statist age that began in the 16th and 17th centuries consolidated and centralized the political power of the state. Divergent factions and regional power blocks within European states were discouraged, as politics became centralized at the national level. The proliferation of the nation-state represented the standardization of human political organization according to a single model. Given that there are, and have been, a variety of means by which humans identify and organize politically, this suggests that this universal acceptance and entrenchment of one model may be somewhat inappropriate.


2008 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris DeWiel

The idea of civil society has undergone a renaissance in recent years, but missing from this literature is an explanation for its historical transformation in meaning. Originally civil society was synonymous with political society, but the common modem meaning emphasizes autonomy from the state. This paper traces this historical transformation within the context of the history of ideas, and suggests that the critical event was an eighteenth-century reaction against the rationalistic universalism associated with the French Enlightenment. The continued significance of the question of universalism is suggested by the fact that universalistic Marxist Leninist theories provided the ideological underpinnings for the destruction of civil society in Eastern European nations. The paper concludes that three elements are essential to the modern understanding of civil society: its autonomy from the state, its interdependence with the state, and the pluralism of values, ideals and ways of life embodied in its institutions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peadar Kirby

This article develops a theoretical framework to consider the symbiotic relationship between civil society, social movements and the Irish state. Civil society, largely through social movements, laid the foundations for an independent Irish state in the half-century before independence. Following independence, the nature of the civil society–state relationship changed; civil society became much more dependent on the state. The article empirically traces the nature of society's relationship to the state since the 1920s, and examines the nature of the political system and its major political party, Fianna Fáil, the structure of the economy, and the dominance of particular understandings of the role of civil society and the nature of society itself. The period since the advent of social partnership in 1987 is examined; this period marks a new attempt by the state to co-opt organised civil society making it subservient to its project of the imposition on society of the requirements of global corporate profit-making. The more forceful implementation of a global free-market project by the Irish state since the 1980s, and the co-option of organised civil society into this project, has left huge space for an alternative to emerge, the potential of which was indicated by the success of the ‘No’ campaign in the 2008 Lisbon referendum campaign.


1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES COTTON

South Korea cannot be seen as an example of the bureaucratic-authoritarian state type. Neither its position in the world system nor its industrialization strategy can be used to give a sufficient explanation of its political and social character. Although these factors have played a part, particular historical, political, and cultural circumstances have permitted the state to enjoy a degree of autonomy during the period of rapid social and economic transformation from the 1960s to the 1980s. The determinants and character of the transition to democratization generally support this analysis, but also indicate that limits exist to the degree of liberalization to be expected in the political system.


2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 41-53
Author(s):  
Dudley Knowles

Hegel's account of freedom is complex and difficult. It integrates a doctrine of free agency, a theory of social freedom, and a self-determining theodicy of Spirit. To achieve full understanding, if full understanding is possible, the student must both disentangle and articulate the components, and then fit together the separate pieces into an intelligible whole. And what is true of the whole is true of the parts; each element is in turn complex and controversial.In this paper, I want to investigate one very small aspect of this picture — the political phenomenology of the citizen of Hegel's rational state. Whether we are delineating the contours of free agency or re-telling Hegel's story about the modes of freedom constitutive of the institutions of the modern state, sooner or later we shall have to interpret Hegel's description of the self-consciousness of the typical citizen. We shall have to give some account of what citizens take to be their political standing, and show how both this standing and the citizens' understanding of it contribute to freedom.This should not be a controversial claim. To paraphrase portions of the famous statement at PR §260: The state is the actuality of concrete freedom. Members of families integrated into civil society knowingly and willingly acknowledge their citizenship and actively pursue the ends of the state. They do not live as private persons merely; in understanding, endorsing and acting out their ethical status as citizens they achieve such subjective fulfilment as isnecessaryfor them to be truly free.


2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Buchanan ◽  
Kate Nicholls

Labour Politics and Democratisation in South Korea and TaiwanThe article explores the evolution of labour politics during the transition from authoritarian to electoral rule in South Korea and Taiwan during the last decade and a half. It argues that labour politics is a crucial aspect of democratic consolidation because it facilitates the reproduction of contingent mass consent to the new regime. To this end, organized labour must be re-positioned as a political and economic actor, something that requires institutional and structural reform away from the authoritarian experience. Based on analysis of the pattern of political insertion and the legal framework governing the interaction between organized labour, business and the state before and after the electoral transition, as well as data on strikes, union density and membership, the essay concludes that substantive change in the labour politics partial regime is minor in both countries and that in fact, democratic consolidation remains an unachieved goal in each.


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