[KS] Confucianism and economic development

[Morgan Pitelka]

Dear Colleagues,

One of my advisees is conducting research on the connection between
Confucianism and economic development in postwar South Korea. He is
interested in both practice and discourse. In other words, he is not
assuming that the connection always exists and is important, but rather
expects that in many examples the rhetoric of Confucianism became a
corporate and state tool in the attempt to construct certain kinds of
identities and encourage certain kinds of behavior.

The problem he is encountering is a plethora of vague references to the
Confucian-development connection (particularly in discussions of the
chaebol) combined with a lack of specific evidence.

Can anyone suggest materials that might be useful in the study of this
issue? Interviews, case studies, diaries, corporate PR, etc.? I've pasted
the basic reading list he is working with at this point to the bottom of
this message. (I am a specialist in East Asian premodern ceramics and
cultural history, and thus out of my depth when it comes to modern economic
history.) 

Thanks,

Morgan

*****************
Morgan Pitelka
Asian Studies Department
408 Johnson Hall
Occidental College
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041
1-323-259-1421
mailto:mpitelka at oxy.edu
*****************

Amsden, Alice. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization.
Oxford, 1989.

Borthwick, Mark. The Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia.
Westview, 1992.

Brook, Timothy and H.V. Luong. Culture and Economy: The Shaping of
Capitalism in Eastern Asia. Michigan, 1997.

Chung Kae H. and H.C. Lee. Korean Managerial Dynamics. Praeger, 1989.

Cummings, Bruce. Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History. Norton, 1997.

Das, Dilip K. Korean Economic Dynamism. St. Martin's Press, 1992.

Kim, Eun M. Big Business, Strong State: Collusion and Conflict in South
Korean Development, 1960-1990. State University of New York, 1997

Steers, Richard M. Made in Korea: Chung Ju Yung and the Rise of Hyundai.
Routledge, 1999.

Tai, Hung-chao. Confucianism and Economic Development: An Oriental
Alternative? Washington Institute Press, 1989.

Ungson, Gerardo R., R.M. Steers, and S.H. Park. Korean Enterprise: The Quest
for Globalization. Harvard Business School, 1997.