한국 농촌 마을 공동체의 구성 원리 분석 : 경북 의성군 사촌마을의 ‘계（契）’ 조직을 중심으로 = An Analysis of the Organizational Principles of Korean Rural Village Communities: Focusing on the 'Gye（Mutual Aid Society）' in Sachon Village, Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Ph.D Thesis


An Analysis of the Organizational Principles of Korean Rural Village Communities:
Focusing on the 'Gye（Mutual Aid Society）' in Sachon Village, Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk


Um Kyung Ja


Department of Sociology
Graduate School
Yeungnam University
（Supervised by Professor Chung Yong Kyo）


Abstract

This study examines one aspect of the organizational principles of Korean rural communities by focusing on the Gye （traditional mutual-aid associations） in Sachon Village, Uiseong County, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. In traditional Korean rural society, Gye functioned not merely as economic mutual-aid organizations but also as core institutions for maintaining village autonomy, enforcing social norms, managing common property, performing communal rituals, and mediating conflicts. However, with rapid industrialization and urbanization, most traditional Gye organizations have declined or disappeared. In contrast, Sachon Village remains a representative case where various Gye organizations including the Dongyak-gye, Gongmok-gye, Hak-gye, Seorim-gye, and Song-gye continue to operate, making it an important subject for scholarly investigation.
The study seeks to identify the social organizational principles underlying Korean rural communities by analyzing the formation, operation, functions, and sustainability of the Gye organizations in Sachon Village. The theoretical framework draws upon community theory, social capital theory, and common-pool resource management theory, with particular emphasis on the works of Ferdinand Tönnies, Émile Durkheim, Robert D. Putnam, and Elinor Ostrom.
A qualitative case study approach was employed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, documentary analysis, and participant observation, supplemented by historical records such as Gye registers, accounting ledgers, and organizational regulations. The interviews were conducted from September 2023 to March 2026 with 10 in-depth interviewees, who are key experts with the most extensive knowledge of the Gye, village history, and overall culture. The analysis focused on five representative Gye organizations in Sachon Village: Dongyak-gye, Gongmok-gye, Hak-gye, Seorim-gye, and Song-gye.
The findings reveal that these Gye organizations function not simply as social associations but as fundamental social institutions sustaining the village community. First, economically, the Gongmok-gye operated as a traditional welfare institution by collectively organizing funeral rites and distributing funeral labor according to age groups, thereby sharing catastrophic risks among households. The Dongyak-gye also established a grain-based circulation economy that functioned as a rural credit system before the widespread adoption of a cash economy. Second, socially, the Gye organizations accumulated strong bonding social capital through long-term, repeated interactions while internalizing communal moral norms as members' practical dispositions （habitus） through the transmission of family precepts and everyday socialization. In particular, transparent annual accounting practices and formal legal recognition under the modern judicial system constituted a structural buffering mechanism that institutionally produced trust. Third, culturally, the collective trauma caused by the retaliatory arson committed by the Japanese colonial authorities in 1896 was reconstructed as a collective narrative of anti-colonial resistance and communal reconstruction, thereby reinforcing collective identity. In addition, the Hak-gye contributed to the intergenerational reproduction of knowledge and cultural capital. Fourth, politically, the village established a system of autonomous governance and an embryonic public sphere through village regulations （Donggyu） and village assemblies （Donghoe）, institutionalizing the four cardinal virtues of Hyangyak while maintaining social control through graduated sanctions. Fifth, an inductively identified ecological dimension demonstrated that the Seorim-gye and Song-gye autonomously implemented Ostrom's principles for governing common-pool resources by protecting, monitoring, and restoring village forests and roadside woodland, thereby practicing traditional environmental ethics.
The study further identifies several factors contributing to the long-term sustainability of the Gye organizations, including the Confucian value system, the integration of kinship and territorial ties, the continuous operation of rituals and organizational regulations, the institutionalization of trust through transparent financial management, and the collective management of shared assets. These findings suggest that the Gye organizations represent not merely surviving traditional institutions but also potential foundations for rebuilding community and fostering social solidarity in contemporary society.
Finally, this study conceptualizes the adaptive evolution of the Sachon Village Gye organizations as a process of reflexive reconstruction of tradition, whereby the core principles of tradition mutual aid, ancestral commemoration, and communal solidarity have been preserved while their institutional forms have been continuously transformed to accommodate changing social conditions, such as integrated ancestral rites and the transition to communal cemeteries. The Sachon Village case demonstrates the uniqueness of Korean social capital and hybrid forms of solidarity by critically complementing the dichotomous assumptions of Western functionalist and rationalist sociological theories within the context of traditional rural society. Furthermore, it provides historical, practical, and governance-related implications for reconstructing contemporary rural communities facing population decline and rapid population aging while exploring sustainable models of local self-governance.

Keywords: Gye （traditional mutual-aid association）, Sachon Village, social solidarity, social capital, common-pool resource management, reflexive reconstruction of tradition, institutional production of trust

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 제1장 서론 1
• 1. 연구 필요성 1
• 2. 연구 목적 6
• 3. 연구 문제 7
• 제2장 이론적 배경 8
• 1. 의성군 사촌（沙村）마을 개요 8
• 2. 공동체론과 한국 전통 ‘계（契）’의 이론적 연관성 22
• 3. 계의 형성과 조직 체계 33
• 4. 계의 구성 원리 38
• 5. 사회적 자본 이론 58
• 6. 집성촌과 사회적 자본 66
• 7. 선행 연구 검토 69
• 제3장 연구 방법 80
• 1. 연구설계 80
• 2. 연구 대상 81
• 3. 자료 수집 87
• 4. 연구 절차 95
• 5. 분석의 틀 96
• 6. 자료 분석 방법 104
• 7. 연구의 신뢰도와 타당도 확보 109
• 제4장 사촌마을 계 조직과 제도적 특징 110
• 1. 사촌마을 계 조직 110
• 2. 계의 제도적 특성 114
• 3. 분석 절차에 따른 결과 116
• 4. 연구 문제와 핵심 주제의 대응 130
• 제5장 사촌마을 계 조직의 기능별 분석 131
• 1. 경제적 역할 132
• 2. 사회적 역할 138
• 3. 문화적 역할 141
• 4. 정치적 역할 142
• 5. 생태적 역할 143
• 6. 계 조직의 유기적 연계 147
• 제6장 사촌마을 계 조직과 사회학적 함의 148
• 1. 혼합적 연대로서의 계 조직 148
• 2. 결속형 자본의 공공선 전환 149
• 3. 절차 중심으로 신뢰의 제도적 생산 150
• 4. 공유자원 관리의 자치적 구현 151
• 5. 전통 지속의 세 가지 기제 152
• 제7장 결론 155
• 1. 요약 155
• 2. 의의 157
• 3. 한계 및 제언 158
• 참고 문헌 163
• 부 록 176
• Abstract 183