Confucianism in Contestation

The May Struggle of 1991 in South Korea and Its Lesson

Bibliographic Data

ID6308784
AuthorsKim (0000-0003-2291-5896, University of Richmond, corresponding author), Sungmoon Kim (University of Richmond)
Year2009
Volume31
Issue1
Pages49-68
Publication date2009-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0739-3148 • E-ISSN: 1469-9931
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1080/07393140802693907
OpenAlexW2045558285
LanguageEN
Citations received2

This article seeks to present an alternative approach to understanding the politics of East Asian democratization with a special focus on South Korea. Taking the May Struggle of 1991—the largest political upheaval since the June Uprising of 1987—as a case study, it examines how Confucian moral rhetoric and practices were peculiarly employed (or exploited) in a series of authoritarian–democratic confrontations. It argues that Confucianism was neither in itself an obstacle nor an unquestionable contributor to the democratization of Korea; rather, it furnished both authoritarian and democratic sides with symbolic weapons cultivated in the Korean tradition of “Confucian moralpolitik”. By seeing Confucianism as a set of semiotic practices, the article problematizes the contemporary discussion of “Confucian democracy” that heavily glosses over its contrasting dimensions by either idealizing or distorting it. In conclusion, it contends that democracy is a constant struggle and that the future of Korean democracy depends on how it identifies and promotes potentially democratic cultural practices while curbing anti-democratic ones

Economic geography · Geography · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Japanese History and Culture

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub