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A Comparative Study on Civil Society, Social Movements, and Institutional Politics in South Korea and Taiwan
CHO Hee-Yeon, Sungkonghoe Univ. S. Korea CHEN Hsin-Hsing. Shi-Hsin Univ. Taiwan
1.
Consolidated Democracies with Increasing Inequality Theoretical and conceptual frameworks Institutional politics under change Social movements and distributional politics Changes in the civil society
2.
3.
4.
5.
Reforms in immediate aftermath of the fall of dictatorship under post-authoritarian administrations Failed expectation of progressive distributional politics under the Liberal administrations and popular discontent Resurgence of conservatism
3.5 3
G ini's c onc entration c oeffic ient of inc om e s hare of highes t 20% to that of low es t 20% R atio
overcoming the dictatorial legacies; enhancing transparency, vertical and horizontal accountability
Distributional
politics
Main argument
While
democratic reform politics is largely successful in S. Korea and Taiwan, there is a regression in distributional politics in both countries. Political-sociological analysis of this requires examination of interrelated developments in:
Freedom for the peoplepolitical liberalization Freedom for the capitaleconomic liberalization
Democratization as contestation process between two "liberated" forces Contestation over socio-economic inequality depends on:
Configuration of institutional politics Configuration of social movements Hegemony within the civil society
Social movements
Economic liberalization
Democracy as merely institutional arrangements, or Hollow out of democracy Favored by establishment Democratization in all social domains socialization of democracy Favored by the formerly suppressed people Intrinsic in the idealistic character of democracy
Minimalist
Commonalities between South Korea and Taiwan Democratic Reform in Hegemonic Position Political lag and pressure for democratic reform in post-authoritarian period Neoliberalization of political liberals The Third-Wave and Neoliberal developmentalism
second wavenational liberation, decolonization third wave globalization, neoliberalism
Corruption scandals
Centrality of electoral politics Reforms initiated under the post-authoritarian government Reversal of the State-Business Hierarchy Ethnicity, Taiwan-China relations, and the DPP administration
Table 1: Growth Rates of Labor Productivity and Real Wage in South Korea
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Labor Productivity (%) Real Wage (%) 6.5 7.8 1.6 14.6 6.0 9.4 3.2 7.5 3.0 8.4 5.2 7.0 4.9 6.1 6.1 6.4 4.2 6.6
Radical party and pressure on the liberal parties Compromise in 1998 revision of the labor law
Casualization of work
Distinctive characters:
Lack of distinction between old and new social movements Long-lasting movements limited to several sectors Schisms inside the movement often reflect partisan electoral politics Coalition building and structurelessness of organizations Transcending partisan politics Administrative Reforms and the committee politics Legislative reforms
Backlash toward redressing past injustices Entanglement of the liberals with corruption Neoliberal policies harm common people Failure of the reform to change the deep-rooted conservative consciousness
Conclusions
Hegemony of democratic reforms undermined during the liberal administrations Histtory-rooted anti-bureaucratic sentiments and the neoliberalization of liberals Capacity of the social movements still exist despite conservative backlash