A SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATION OF ENVIRONMENT IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

JEONG, DAI-YEUN Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1997 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.26 No.2

The environment consists of,at least,three components - the natural,the human-made,and the social.They exist in a mutual causal relationship,and function as a determinant of human life.Tims,the environment should be researched in terms of such a causal mechanism among the components,in relation to human life.The importance of the environment lies in that its crisis is the crisis of human beings. Nevertheless,the natural environment and its problems produced by the human-made physical environment has been emphasized, even with disregard for its impact on or relationship to human life.The social environment and its problems should also be included in the research.Industrialization as a social development is the direct and main cause of the emerging natural and social environmental problem.This means that human beings are the beneficiaries and sacrificers of social development,and that a self-contradiction lies between industrialization and the -preservation of the environment.One of the ways to solve the self-contradiction is to change the value of social development from quantitative growth to qualitative environmental amenity.For this,sociology should develop a new set of indicators of social development,measuring the degree of natural and social developmental amenity.

SOCIAL RAMIFICATIONS OF SOUTH KOREA'S ECONOMIC FALL : NEO-LIBERAL ANTIDOTE TO COMPRESSED CAPITALIST INDUSTRIALIZATION?

CHANG, KYUNG-SUP Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1999 Development and Society Vol.28 No.1

South Korea's economic collapse of 1997 was no less dramatic than her earlier economic success for three and a half decades. Obviously, South Koreans overstretched their economic ambitions in the 1990s, so that suicidal investment in heavy industries using short-term foreign loans was destined to cause a major balance-of-payment crisis. The recent economic ─ and, for that matter, social ─ crisis, however, seems rooted in many more ills of the South korean model of development. Particularly menacing are social problems emanating from the psychological bubble concerning material betterment, the welfare-suppressive accumulation strategy, and the authoritarian treatment of labor. These practices and habits were often considered instrumental to achieving rapid industrialization and economic growth, but their social costs remained unpaid. Incidentally, various risky social conditions which had been built up under the South Korean development strategy began to hurt South Koreans at the grassroots level, with the IMF programs working as a crucial catalyst. In this sense, the IMF could (and should) have been much more careful about the local social contexts in which its economic restructuring programs would take effects (and side-effects). Despite its immediate success in debt renewal and economic stabilization, the current South Korean government has failed to alleviate these risky social conditions effectively.

STATE AND WAGE POLICY : IMPLICATIONS FOR CORPORATISM

SONG, HO KEUN Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1996 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.25 No.2

Focusing on the change in state wage policy and conflicts surrounding wage negotiation, this paper addresses three questions; first, what are principles of former state wage policy and how does the ultra elitist agreement differ from the previous wage policy?; second, why did organized labor tolerate wage concession through the ‘ultra elitist agreement’ which entirely excluded worker participation?; third and finally, what kind of customs and rules are observed in workplace wage negotiation? The analysis of survey data reveals that under the restriction of enterprise unionism, wage negotiation at workplaces has developed rules and customs that actually surpass firms boundaries. The negotiation result of reference firms is aken as the most decisive index in wage negotiation. Without state intervention, it is likely that these rules would be institutional foundation for ‘sectoral corporatism.’

AGING AND SOCIAL POLICY IN KOREA

CHOI, SUNG-JAE Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1996 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.25 No.1

On the basis of the modernization theory of aging, this paper argues that the causal factors for the diminishing status of the elderly and consequent aging problems are basically societal rather than individual or familial. It then examines the present state of problems of elderly Koreans, analyzes existing social welfare provisions for the elderly and some problems in current policies. From these diagnoses, it emphasizes the role and the shared responsibility of the state to initiate an efficient and encompassing solution for the elderly problem, which will pave the desirable way for the Korean welfare state.

CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT : REASSESSING CULTURAL EXPLANATIONS ON ASIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

GONG, YOOSHIK,JANG, WONHO Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1998 Development and Society Vol.27 No.1

Economic success in East Asia has no precedent in the history of capitalist development, in terms of massive growth in the scales of economy in a relatively short period of time. However, existing theories of economic development have failed to unravel the East Asian puzzle fully. This has led scholars to search for new models and to develop an Asia-specific Confucian notion of economic development based on the assumption that successful Asian countries share a Confucianism as a common cultural factor. Although it has gained popularity over the years, the neo-Confucian perspective has a number of serious theoretical and methodological problems. This paper reviews the problems inherent in the neo-Confucian perspective and offers suggestions by which this perspective can be a viable and complentary approach to mainstream approaches to esplaining development. The current Asian economic crisis seems to nullify neo-Confucian explanations for Asian development. This paper, however, argues that a cultural approach, if it solves inherent conceptual, theoretical, and methodological problems, has the potential to explain the current economic crisis as well as explaining rapid development in Asia.

ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS AGAINST GOLF COURSE DEVELOPMENT IN KOREA SINCE THE LATE 1980's

HAN, DO HYUN Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1995 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.24 No.1

This paper examines environmental activism against the development of golf courses in Korea from 1980 to 1990. The author demonstrates that golf course development is accelerated by profit-seeking land developers or speculators and that windfall gains resulting from land value increments further the development of golf course. This study shows that in terms of golf course development the state and capitalists have almost the same interests as the developers, and that, farmers, as the victims, have organized an environmental movement against the development. In the course of the movement, the nature of the movement has changed from a reparation one to an environmental one. At the same time, the organizations have grown from the village-wide level to the province-wide level. Despite this development, the organizations at the province-wide level to not work well, and their strategies are not well-developed, resulting in a failure to mobilize. In addition, though the water pollution from golf course development can threaten the life of urban people, citizens of the Seoul metropolitan area have not actively participated in these movements; therefore, coalition between farmers and citizens has been hard to mobilize. Finally, this paper emphasizes that residents and farmers should have the opportunity to plan their own sustainable development strategies, to express their views on the issues, and to define their wants. It also stresses that for environmental protection, land speculation should be curtailed and for this purpose the concept of ownership has to change.

AN INTERNATIONAL LABOUR MIGRATION TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN ASIA : A CASE STUDY OF KOREA

KIM, JOON KIUM Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1996 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.25 No.2

International labour migration has been an essential feature of capitalist development throughout the world. In the past ten to fifteen years, the newly industrializing economies in Asia underwent a historical change from labour exporter to labour importer status. While structural changes have provided the context for such unprecedented reversal in labour migration, the flow of international labour migration (ILM) is directly mediated by contradictory and flexible state policies. Unlike the past labour migration from underdeveloped to developed regions of the world, the recent labour migration to developing countries in Asia reveals that the illegalization of foreign labourers is an integral part of their temporary labour importation schemes. Based on a survey research in Korea, this paper points out the inadequacies of existing labour mirgration theories in explaining labour migration to developing countries in Asia, identifies unique features of labour migration to developing countries, and brings to light specific state strategies for maintaining control over both legal and illegal labourers.

SEX PREFERENCE VERSUS NUMBER PREFERENCE : THE CASE OF KOREA

LEE, SUNG YONG Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1996 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.25 No.2

This paper examines whether son preference has a strong positive effect on fertility rate via number preference. To test this hypothesis, Korea was used as a case because Korea still shows strong son preference but its fertility rates have reached below the replacement level. The hazard models with unobserved heterogeneity were used to analyze the relationships between sex preference and number preference. To reject the strong positive effect of sex preference on total fertility rates, number preference must be distinguished from sex preference. Statistical analysis shows that the existence of a son has a stronger effect on fertility behavior in Korea than the number of children. Nevertheless, the effects of son preference may not have a significant effect on the fertility rates since the probability of having only daughters becomes lower as the parities increase. The total fertility rate is defined as the sum of the hypothetical age-specific fertility rate of women, rather than the sum of the real age-specific fertility rates. If there are some important factors occurring the differences between the hypothetical age-specific fertility rates and the real age-specific fertility rates, the total fertility rates may be wrong. Because of increased birth intervals and late ages at marriage, it is difficult to say that the fertility rates below the replacement level since the late 1980 are a permanent phenomenon. In spite of the existence of the strong son preference, the ideal (or desired) number of children have decreased in Korea. Moreover, the means to control the number of children, such as abortions, have been supported by the Korean government policies. Through sex-selective technologies, abnormally higher sex ratios at birth have occurred since 1985.

COMPARING HOUSING POLICIES IN TOKYO AND SEOUL

KIM, MANJAE Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1995 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.24 No.1

This paper analyses housing policies in Tokyo and Seoul from comparative perspectives. First, unlike production, the state in Japan and Korea has not played an active and effective role in the housing sector. Second, the state in the West has been more concerned about housing than Japanese and Korean states, and the local state in the West has also pursued more independent housing policies than the Tokyo and Seoul Metropolitan Governments. Third, in spite of their similarities at the macro level, Japanese housing policies have been more quality and equality oriented than Korean housing policies.

HAS THE ROLE STRUCTURE REALLY CHANGED BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE IN KOREA?

CHANG, HYUN-SEOB Institute for Social Development and Policy Resear 1997 Korea Journal of Population and Development Vol.26 No.1

In response to and because of the forces of industrialisation the Korean family has changed demographically, culturally, and socially. 'These changes are 'alive' and exerting an influence upon everyday life in Korea - but traditional beliefs still persist. The paper focuses upon these changes with regard to changes in role structure. Role structure in traditional society was. strictly differentiated, inside and outside the home. It was rigorously dichotomised by sex and by age. The situation has changed in the process of industrialisation during the last a few decades. Four different sorts of role performances will be discussed', housework, childrearing, outside activities, and economic activities. In these areas a strict role differentiation was expected in traditional society, however the idea has greatly changed, meeting the demands of young generations, sometimes with deterioration of women's status.