Soohyun Christine Lee
Biographic Data
| ID | 3590988 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Soohyun Christine Lee |
| GIVEN NAMES | Soohyun Christine |
| FAMILY NAME | Lee |
| SIGNATURE | LEE S C |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6679-8543 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 142 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
What has Happened to the Poster Child
South Korean democracy had been under attack. This was most apparent in President Yoon Suk-Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law. But it was not the only challenge to Korean democracy, previously regarded as one of the most successful third-wave de-mocracies. Though not calling into question episodes of democratic regression, this ar-ticle challenges arguments of Korean democracy backsliding and instead points to the country’s democratic rollercoa…
From Labor Market Dualization to Inclusive Growth? Trade Unions and the Politics of Labor Market Reform in South Korea
The landslide victory of the center-left Moon Jae-In in the 2017 presidential election opened a window of opportunity for progressive reform in South Korea. Elected on a platform of social inclusion and fairness and with support from organized labor, the Moon Jae-In government (2017-22) made at first considerable progress in advancing inclusive labor market reform and an alternative growth model against opposition from business, but the administr…
Anti-Gender Politics, Economic Insecurity, and Right-Wing Populism
The 2022 presidential election in Korea saw a huge swing of young men toward the conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, which was decisive for his electoral victory. This unprecedented electoral volatility created a gendered division among young voters, who had been a solid progressive voting block supporting the center-left party. The article shows how the conservatives’ anti-feminist campaign drove a wedge between young men and women, and it inv…
Skills and Training in Hierarchical Capitalism
From an economic model in which education and growth reinforced each other, South Korea has developed a pathological equilibrium holding back economic and social progress. Low labour productivity and skills mismatch undermine the economic prospects of the country, and sharp rises in inequality in an ever more dualised labour market erode social cohesion. Governments of different political persuasion have recognised these challenges, and they have…
Dualisation, education and the knowledge economy
In post‐war Germany and South Korea, not only was vocational education and training key to the two countries' export‐oriented growth models, it also promoted social inclusion. More recently, the knowledge economy has put this skills‐based, inclusive growth model under pressure, and we see labour market dualisation calling into question the social contracts in the two countries. Studying education reform in Germany and Korea, we analyse government…
Labour market dualization, permanent insecurity and fertility
This paper explores the relationship between labour market dualization, insecurity and low fertility, through a case study of South Korea, an extreme case of ultra-low fertility where the total fertility rate fell to 0.84 in 2020. It is argued that the long-term nature of the insecurity associated with dualization, as well as its impact on people’s perceptions of present and future insecurity, mark dualization out as a particular phenomenon whose…
Roads and Barriers towards Social Investments
Across the OECD world, social investment policies are on the rise, which Hemerijck describes as a ‘quiet paradigm revolution’. Whilst Nordic countries are typically considered the pioneers in social investment policies, we observe that latecomer countries of not only Europe but also East Asia have made considerable efforts to catch-up with Northern European frontrunners. The rise of social investment policies, especially the expansion of family p…
Organised Labour, Dualisation and Labour Market Reform
Labour markets across industrialised countries are under considerable pressure with governments implementing deregulating reforms in particular at the margins of the labour market, whereas regular workers have often seen very little decline in employment protection. Employers have been pushing hard for labour market deregulation, and it is therefore easy to see a government-business alliance at the heart of these developments. But where are trade…
The political economy of education and skills in South Korea
The success story of Korean economic development is intimately linked with the so-called developmental state; and education policy, as part of centrally orchestrated industrial policy, played a critical role in the country's rapid industrialisation, which allowed for high employment rates, relatively modest social inequality and remarkable social mobility. However, the Korean success story has started to show ‘cracks’ – with labour market dualisa…
Democratization, Political Parties and Korean Welfare Politics
Recent reforms of family policy signal a turning point in the Korean welfare state, as they undermine the welfare developmentalism that is commonly ascribed to Korean social policy. Drawing on the East Asian as well as Western welfare state literatures, this research seeks to understand the politics behind family policy reforms. In doing so, this research argues that political parties were the driver of these reforms, contrary to the conventional…
Social Solidarity for All? Trade Union Strategies, Labor Market Dualization, and the Welfare State in Italy and South Korea
Challenging the new political-economic 'mainstream' that considers trade unions to be 'complicit' in labor market dualization, this article's analysis of union strategies in Italy and South Korea, most-different union movements perceived as unlikely cases for the pursuit of broader social solidarity, shows that in both countries unions have successively moved away from insider-focused strategies and toward 'solidarity for all' in the industrial r…
Democratization, post-industrialization, and East Asian welfare capitalism
This review article provides an overview of the scholarship on the establishment and reform of East Asian welfare capitalism. The developmental welfare state theory and the related productivist welfare regime approach have dominated the study of welfare states in the region. This essay, however, shows that a growing body of research challenges the dominant literature. We identify two key driving factors of welfare reform in East Asia, namely demo…
The Politics of Labor Market Reform in Coordinated Welfare Capitalism
Coordinated welfare capitalism has been subject to comprehensive change since the 1990s, with workfare measures and the deregulation of employment protection at the heart of labor market reforms. Developments in Sweden, Germany, and South Korea challenge not only the assumption of relative stability that is commonly associated with the study of coordinated market economies, but also the assertion that this stability is associated with the persist…
The Politics of Investing in Families
Family policy addresses some of the important challenges of post-industrial societies, and represents an important dimension of the recent transformation of advanced welfare capitalism. This article analyses the development of family policy in the two East Asian latecomer countries of Japan and South Korea, where we witness significant policy expansion starting in the 1990s—with the latter displaying much bolder expansion and defamilization. Expl…
The Politics of Postindustrial Social Policy
Recent welfare reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have sought to make social policies more “employment friendly.” Although “old” social policies of the Golden Age (namely, unemployment protection and old-age security, which were typically geared toward the male breadwinner model) were subject to comprehensive retrenchment, “new” social policies, especially family policies facilitating work–family reco…
The Politics of Postindustrial Social Policy
Recent welfare reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have sought to make social policies more “employment friendly.” Although “old” social policies of the Golden Age (namely, unemployment protection and old-age security, which were typically geared toward the male breadwinner model) were subject to comprehensive retrenchment, “new” social policies, especially family policies facilitating work–family reco…
The Politics of Labor Market Reform in Coordinated Welfare Capitalism
Coordinated welfare capitalism has been subject to comprehensive change since the 1990s, with workfare measures and the deregulation of employment protection at the heart of labor market reforms. Developments in Sweden, Germany, and South Korea challenge not only the assumption of relative stability that is commonly associated with the study of coordinated market economies, but also the assertion that this stability is associated with the persist…
Social Solidarity for All? Trade Union Strategies, Labor Market Dualization, and the Welfare State in Italy and South Korea
Challenging the new political-economic 'mainstream' that considers trade unions to be 'complicit' in labor market dualization, this article's analysis of union strategies in Italy and South Korea, most-different union movements perceived as unlikely cases for the pursuit of broader social solidarity, shows that in both countries unions have successively moved away from insider-focused strategies and toward 'solidarity for all' in the industrial r…
Democratization, Political Parties and Korean Welfare Politics
Recent reforms of family policy signal a turning point in the Korean welfare state, as they undermine the welfare developmentalism that is commonly ascribed to Korean social policy. Drawing on the East Asian as well as Western welfare state literatures, this research seeks to understand the politics behind family policy reforms. In doing so, this research argues that political parties were the driver of these reforms, contrary to the conventional…
Organised Labour, Dualisation and Labour Market Reform
Labour markets across industrialised countries are under considerable pressure with governments implementing deregulating reforms in particular at the margins of the labour market, whereas regular workers have often seen very little decline in employment protection. Employers have been pushing hard for labour market deregulation, and it is therefore easy to see a government-business alliance at the heart of these developments. But where are trade…
The Politics of Investing in Families
Family policy addresses some of the important challenges of post-industrial societies, and represents an important dimension of the recent transformation of advanced welfare capitalism. This article analyses the development of family policy in the two East Asian latecomer countries of Japan and South Korea, where we witness significant policy expansion starting in the 1990s—with the latter displaying much bolder expansion and defamilization. Expl…
The political economy of education and skills in South Korea
The success story of Korean economic development is intimately linked with the so-called developmental state; and education policy, as part of centrally orchestrated industrial policy, played a critical role in the country's rapid industrialisation, which allowed for high employment rates, relatively modest social inequality and remarkable social mobility. However, the Korean success story has started to show ‘cracks’ – with labour market dualisa…
Anti-Gender Politics, Economic Insecurity, and Right-Wing Populism
The 2022 presidential election in Korea saw a huge swing of young men toward the conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, which was decisive for his electoral victory. This unprecedented electoral volatility created a gendered division among young voters, who had been a solid progressive voting block supporting the center-left party. The article shows how the conservatives’ anti-feminist campaign drove a wedge between young men and women, and it inv…
Labour market dualization, permanent insecurity and fertility
This paper explores the relationship between labour market dualization, insecurity and low fertility, through a case study of South Korea, an extreme case of ultra-low fertility where the total fertility rate fell to 0.84 in 2020. It is argued that the long-term nature of the insecurity associated with dualization, as well as its impact on people’s perceptions of present and future insecurity, mark dualization out as a particular phenomenon whose…
Roads and Barriers towards Social Investments
Across the OECD world, social investment policies are on the rise, which Hemerijck describes as a ‘quiet paradigm revolution’. Whilst Nordic countries are typically considered the pioneers in social investment policies, we observe that latecomer countries of not only Europe but also East Asia have made considerable efforts to catch-up with Northern European frontrunners. The rise of social investment policies, especially the expansion of family p…
Skills and Training in Hierarchical Capitalism
From an economic model in which education and growth reinforced each other, South Korea has developed a pathological equilibrium holding back economic and social progress. Low labour productivity and skills mismatch undermine the economic prospects of the country, and sharp rises in inequality in an ever more dualised labour market erode social cohesion. Governments of different political persuasion have recognised these challenges, and they have…
Dualisation, education and the knowledge economy
In post‐war Germany and South Korea, not only was vocational education and training key to the two countries' export‐oriented growth models, it also promoted social inclusion. More recently, the knowledge economy has put this skills‐based, inclusive growth model under pressure, and we see labour market dualisation calling into question the social contracts in the two countries. Studying education reform in Germany and Korea, we analyse government…
The Politics of Postindustrial Social Policy
Recent welfare reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have sought to make social policies more “employment friendly.” Although “old” social policies of the Golden Age (namely, unemployment protection and old-age security, which were typically geared toward the male breadwinner model) were subject to comprehensive retrenchment, “new” social policies, especially family policies facilitating work–family reco…
The Politics of Investing in Families
Family policy addresses some of the important challenges of post-industrial societies, and represents an important dimension of the recent transformation of advanced welfare capitalism. This article analyses the development of family policy in the two East Asian latecomer countries of Japan and South Korea, where we witness significant policy expansion starting in the 1990s—with the latter displaying much bolder expansion and defamilization. Expl…
Democratization, post-industrialization, and East Asian welfare capitalism
This review article provides an overview of the scholarship on the establishment and reform of East Asian welfare capitalism. The developmental welfare state theory and the related productivist welfare regime approach have dominated the study of welfare states in the region. This essay, however, shows that a growing body of research challenges the dominant literature. We identify two key driving factors of welfare reform in East Asia, namely demo…
The Politics of Labor Market Reform in Coordinated Welfare Capitalism
Coordinated welfare capitalism has been subject to comprehensive change since the 1990s, with workfare measures and the deregulation of employment protection at the heart of labor market reforms. Developments in Sweden, Germany, and South Korea challenge not only the assumption of relative stability that is commonly associated with the study of coordinated market economies, but also the assertion that this stability is associated with the persist…
The political economy of education and skills in South Korea
The success story of Korean economic development is intimately linked with the so-called developmental state; and education policy, as part of centrally orchestrated industrial policy, played a critical role in the country's rapid industrialisation, which allowed for high employment rates, relatively modest social inequality and remarkable social mobility. However, the Korean success story has started to show ‘cracks’ – with labour market dualisa…
Democratization, Political Parties and Korean Welfare Politics
Recent reforms of family policy signal a turning point in the Korean welfare state, as they undermine the welfare developmentalism that is commonly ascribed to Korean social policy. Drawing on the East Asian as well as Western welfare state literatures, this research seeks to understand the politics behind family policy reforms. In doing so, this research argues that political parties were the driver of these reforms, contrary to the conventional…
Social Solidarity for All? Trade Union Strategies, Labor Market Dualization, and the Welfare State in Italy and South Korea
Challenging the new political-economic 'mainstream' that considers trade unions to be 'complicit' in labor market dualization, this article's analysis of union strategies in Italy and South Korea, most-different union movements perceived as unlikely cases for the pursuit of broader social solidarity, shows that in both countries unions have successively moved away from insider-focused strategies and toward 'solidarity for all' in the industrial r…
Roads and Barriers towards Social Investments
Across the OECD world, social investment policies are on the rise, which Hemerijck describes as a ‘quiet paradigm revolution’. Whilst Nordic countries are typically considered the pioneers in social investment policies, we observe that latecomer countries of not only Europe but also East Asia have made considerable efforts to catch-up with Northern European frontrunners. The rise of social investment policies, especially the expansion of family p…
Organised Labour, Dualisation and Labour Market Reform
Labour markets across industrialised countries are under considerable pressure with governments implementing deregulating reforms in particular at the margins of the labour market, whereas regular workers have often seen very little decline in employment protection. Employers have been pushing hard for labour market deregulation, and it is therefore easy to see a government-business alliance at the heart of these developments. But where are trade…
Dualisation, education and the knowledge economy
In post‐war Germany and South Korea, not only was vocational education and training key to the two countries' export‐oriented growth models, it also promoted social inclusion. More recently, the knowledge economy has put this skills‐based, inclusive growth model under pressure, and we see labour market dualisation calling into question the social contracts in the two countries. Studying education reform in Germany and Korea, we analyse government…
Labour market dualization, permanent insecurity and fertility
This paper explores the relationship between labour market dualization, insecurity and low fertility, through a case study of South Korea, an extreme case of ultra-low fertility where the total fertility rate fell to 0.84 in 2020. It is argued that the long-term nature of the insecurity associated with dualization, as well as its impact on people’s perceptions of present and future insecurity, mark dualization out as a particular phenomenon whose…
Anti-Gender Politics, Economic Insecurity, and Right-Wing Populism
The 2022 presidential election in Korea saw a huge swing of young men toward the conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, which was decisive for his electoral victory. This unprecedented electoral volatility created a gendered division among young voters, who had been a solid progressive voting block supporting the center-left party. The article shows how the conservatives’ anti-feminist campaign drove a wedge between young men and women, and it inv…
Skills and Training in Hierarchical Capitalism
From an economic model in which education and growth reinforced each other, South Korea has developed a pathological equilibrium holding back economic and social progress. Low labour productivity and skills mismatch undermine the economic prospects of the country, and sharp rises in inequality in an ever more dualised labour market erode social cohesion. Governments of different political persuasion have recognised these challenges, and they have…
From Labor Market Dualization to Inclusive Growth? Trade Unions and the Politics of Labor Market Reform in South Korea
The landslide victory of the center-left Moon Jae-In in the 2017 presidential election opened a window of opportunity for progressive reform in South Korea. Elected on a platform of social inclusion and fairness and with support from organized labor, the Moon Jae-In government (2017-22) made at first considerable progress in advancing inclusive labor market reform and an alternative growth model against opposition from business, but the administr…
What has Happened to the Poster Child
South Korean democracy had been under attack. This was most apparent in President Yoon Suk-Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law. But it was not the only challenge to Korean democracy, previously regarded as one of the most successful third-wave de-mocracies. Though not calling into question episodes of democratic regression, this ar-ticle challenges arguments of Korean democracy backsliding and instead points to the country’s democratic rollercoa…
Economics (14 works) · Political science (13 works) · Politics (13 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (11 works) · Market economy (10 works) · Political economy (9 works) · Labour economics (8 works) · Economic growth (7 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (7 works) · Asian Industrial and Economic Development (6 works)