[KS] KOREA JOURNAL Autumn 2004 ISSUE

[Korea Journal]

We are pleased to announce the publication of the latest issue of the Korea Journal. The autumn 2004 issue features the two topics and debate outlined below. 
 
1. Hybrid Urbanity: Spatial Embodiment and Place Politics
Space is no longer defined only in terms of geographical and physical dimensions. Taking this point into consideration, the autumn 2004 issue of the Korea Journal tries to read Seoul as a cultural text, with the aim of examining how the meaning of “placeness” of urban space is formed and gained. Four papers under this topic explore how each space has evolved to embody politics of place, focusing on the representative places of Seoul. Ryu Je-hong’s paper addresses how the center of Seoul--Gwanghwamun and Cheonggyecheon--has been constantly “naturalized” and “denaturalized.” For this, Ryu deconstructs the ideological naturalization of the dominant landscape. Kim Eun-Shil’s paper observes how Itaewon, once a deterritorialized space and alien area, has transformed into a current place of transnational globalization. Kim analyzes the way local and global powers operate in the process of place making in Itaewon from an anthropological perspective. Focused on the clubs in the Hongik University area of Seoul, Lee Mu-Yong’s paper defines place as a space of contested meanings. Finally, highlighting Seoul’s two contrasting consumer places, Dongdaemun and Apgujeong-dong, Lee Dong Yeun’s paper reveals the interrelations of “a space of consumption” and the “consuming of a space.” The papers included in this issue are as follows:
 
- Naturalizing Landscapes and the Politics of Hybridity: Gwanghwamun to Cheonggyecheon / Ryu Je-hong (Cultural Action)
- Itaewon as an Alien Space within the Nation-State and a Place in the Globalization Era / Kim Eun-Shil (Ewha Womans Univ.)
- The Landscape of Club Culture and Identity Politics: Focusing on the Club Culture in the Hongdae Area of Seoul / Lee Mu-Yong (Seoul Development Institute)
- Consuming Spaces in the Global Era: Distinctions between Consumer Spaces in Seoul / Lee Dong Yeun (Sunkonghoe Univ.)
 
2. Discourses and Practices of Environmentalism in South Korea
By shedding light on the discourse and practices of environmentalism in Korea, the second special topic is designed to explore ways that Korean society should move forward in the environmental era of the 21st century. Cho Myung-Rae attempts a discursive approach to modern environmentalism in Korea with a focus on examining how environmental discourse emerged and evolved during the period of modernization in Korea. By doing so, Cho demonstrates how environmentalism becomes politicized through an interaction between societal actors in state and civil society. Pointing out that civilization-friendly behavior is regarded as normal and environment-friendly behavior as abnormal in Korea, Lee Hongkyun concludes that environmental awareness and environmental practice seem far from sustainable in Korea. While reviewing the environmental movement in Korea by era, Ku Do-Wan defines green politics through social movements as a dominant characteristic of Korean environmentalism. According to Ku, the environmental movement is not so much a simple reflection of environmental problems as it is a socially constructed one. Moon Tae Hoon examines the evolution of Korean environmental policy from the 1960s to the early 2000s from a sustainability perspective, and stresses that the Korean government failed to meet a surging public demand for a clean environment due to its prioritization of economic policies. He also presents three levels of constraints on sustainable development from global, national, and local sources. The papers included in this issue are as follows:
 
- Emergence and Evolution of Environmental Discourses in South Korea / Cho Myung-Rae (Dankook Univ.)
- Environmental Awareness and Environmental Practice in Korea / Lee Hongkyun (Yonsei Univ.)
- The Korean Environmental Movement: Green Politics through Social Movement / Ku Do-Wan (Korean Environmental Institute)
- Environmental Policy and Green Government in Korea / Moon Tae Hoon (Chung-Ang Univ.)
 
3. Debate: The High School Equalization Policy
Two papers, both written by philosophers, appear in this volume addressing the issue of the equalization policy. Shin Joong Sop argues that the equalization policy should be repealed so that schools will have rights to educational choice. Taking a contrary position, Kim Sang-bong presupposes education as an organ of self-realization and voices that abolition of the policy cannot contribute to the realization of any educational values.
 
- Equalization and Educational Totalitarianism / Shin Joong Sop (Kangwon National Univ.)
- Philosophical Reflections on the School Equalization Policy / Kim Sang-bong (Munye Academy)


Korea Journal

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