[KS] Call for Papers: “Legacies of Militarism in the Korean Peninsular in the 21st Century”

Korea, Journal kj at unesco.or.kr
Wed Nov 1 22:05:09 EDT 2017


Dear KS list members,

*Korea Journal <http://www.ekoreajournal.net/>** invites submissions for a
special issue on the theme of “Legacies of Militarism in the Korean
Peninsular in the 21st Century.” The* Korea Journal* is a quarterly
academic journal in the field of Korean studies, published by the Korean
National Commission for UNESCO since 1961. Articles appearing in the
Journal have been abstracted and indexed in Thomson Reuters’ Arts and
Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) as well as in the SCOPUS database since
2008.



*Submission and Review Deadlines*

l  *November 30, 2017:* 500-word optional abstracts and letters of intent
submitted if authors wish to receive preliminary feedback on manuscripts

l  *December 15, 2017:* potential authors notified whether their proposed
manuscripts would be appropriate for the special issue

l  *April 30, 2018:* submission deadline

l  *June 30, 2018:* first-round decision letters

l  *July 30, 2018:* revisions due

l  *August 15, 2018:* final decisions



*Manuscript Submission*

l  Please review the guidelines in the manuscript submission section
on the journal’s
homepage <http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/dev/index.aspx?tab=4> (
https://www.ekoreajournal.net/submission/index.htm) for information about
how to prepare an article. Manuscripts must conform to the general
guidelines for submission.

l  Manuscripts submitted to KJ should not have been published or accepted
for publication elsewhere, or currently be under review for publication
elsewhere.



l  Article manuscripts should be between 6,000 and 9,000 words, including
footnotes and references. A 200-word abstract and 6-8 keywords must also be
included in the submission.


l  Proposed abstracts and manuscripts should be submitted to the Korea
Journal electronically: kj at unesco.or.kr (www.ekoreajournal.net)


l  Please note in your cover letter to the guest-editor that it is in
response to the Korea Journal call for papers.


*Short Description of the Special Issue*

The development of South Korea as a modern nation was deeply militarized;
in particular, what Prof. Seungsook Moon (Vassar College) has coined the
project of “militarized modernity,” which was systematically pursued by
Park Chunghee’s regime, has had a lasting impact on South Korean society
even after the end of military rule and democratization. Two recent events
compel us to revisit the legacies of Park Chung-hee and militarism in South
Korea. First, in the spring of 2017, Park Geun-hye, the daughter of Park
Chung-hee, and later his successor as president, was impeached and
imprisoned for extensive corruption and other irregularities. Her dramatic
downfall and the subsequent election of Moon Jae-in to the presidency raise
a question as to how to assess the apparent end of Park’s political dynasty
in terms of the legacy of militarism. Second, responding to a series of
missile tests by North Korea, Park Geunhye decided during her presidency to
deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the
village of Seongju. In the face of escalating military aggression from the
North, even Mr. Moon modified his position to accept the THAAD. This change
highlights the normalization of “deterrence-science militarism” (those
political elites in the West embrace) in South Korea, where the institution
of (male-only) mass conscription, the lynchpin of “classical modern
militarism,” persists without the recognition of conscientious objection
and alternatives to military service.



*Potential Topics and Issues*

Approaching militarism as social practices justifying the institution of
military and war preparation, The *Korea Journal* invites scholars to
contribute to the Special Issue on “Legacies of Militarism in the Korean
Peninsula in the 21st century.”  We are looking for critical investigation
of normalization of militarism in the cultural fabric of daily lives in
schools, religious institutions, workplaces, and popular
culture/entertainment as well as politics. We also encourage scholars to
pay keen attention to how such normalization of militarism is interwoven
with the workings of social hierarchy organized by gender, class,
sexuality, ethnicity/nation, and race. In particular, we are looking for
multidisciplinary and substantial research articles examining the following
issues but not limited to them.



1.      Militarism in schools, especially high and middle schools: How and
to what extent do legacies of militarism shape schooling of teenagers in
middle schools and high schools?  Schools in South Korea have used such
explicitly militaristic practice as a marine corps training camp during
which students learn discipline and endurance. Since 2003, over one million
students have completed such training programs. Yet there are subtler
workings of militarism in educational processes. What are unspoken rules
that underlie daily interactions between teachers and students and among
students in school? Are there significant generational and gender
differences among teachers in their modes of interactions with students? If
so, how do such differences manifest and point to different or emergent
rules of social interactions? What effects does the recent educational
reform, characterized by the elimination of corporal punishment in 2010 and
the introduction of the “students’ human rights,” framework have on social
relations among teachers and students in secondary education?



2.      Militarism in religious institutions, especially Christian
churches:  How and to what extent does militarism permeate the working of
Christian churches that have grown phenomenally in the context of rapid
industrialization and urbanization? South Korea has adopted the institution
of military chaplain well established elsewhere. But there are subtler
practices of militarism in mundane interactions between clergymen and lay
members as well as interactions among lay members. While it appears to be
counterintuitive to discuss militarism in the context of the religious
institution commonly associated with peace, this apparent contradiction can
enable us to understand the normalization of militarism in democratized and
post-military rule South Korea.



3.      Militarism in workplaces: In the study of “militarized modernity”
in South Korea, Seungsook Moon demonstrated that militarism was not a
marginal but central mechanism in organizing the industrializing economy in
the 1970s and the 1980s.  In particular, manufacturing companies in a heavy
industry employing mostly men were particularly militarized in South Korea
(and elsewhere). In light of the recent economic restructuring marked by
the rise of finance and information technology, however, it would be
necessary to look into how financial industry and high-tech industry differ
from and converge to the old model of the militarized organizational
culture of workplaces. For example, military drills and discipline have
been incorporated into the orientation of new employees or on-the-job
training programs for experienced employees in big and medium-size
corporations. How common do this type of practice remain in the 21st
century? What are the implications of this divergence and convergence to
the maintaining and remaking the social hierarchy mentioned above?



4.      Militarism in popular culture and entertainment: As existing
studies show, computer games and science fiction movies are heavily infused
with militarized violence. The concept of “spectator sport militarism”
captures this globalized phenomenon. In the continuing presence of
conscription in both Koreas, how does this version of militarism converge
to and diverge from classical militarism relying on conscription? What are
the implications of these convergence and divergence for social hierarchy
organized by gender, class, ethnicity/nation and race?  Another important
topic here is militarism in cyberspace because South Korea is one of the
most virtually connected societies in the world and a large number of young
people spend their leisure time in communicating through social network
sites. There have been recent controversies over contents of certain
popular internet sites aggressively displaying misogyny, hypermasculinity,
and jingoism. How and to what extent do such virtual discourses reproduce
the social hierarchy and opens up a space for challenging it?



5.      Militarism and the formation of the modern nation-state: Taking a
necessary intellectual distance from the contemporary topics, we are also
interested in a historical study of the roles that militarism played in the
formation of the modern nation-state in the Korean Peninsula. This broader
historical inquiry can illuminate the depth of militarism as an underlying
sociopolitical mechanism that has shaped the collective lives of humanity
to a varying degree.



6.      Militarism in North Korea: As a society whose very political
survival has relied heavily upon military buildup and confrontation, North
Korea presents extraordinary opportunities for illuminating the extent to
which militarism shapes various aspects of society. Under the heavy-handed
militarism of the North Korean regime, black market economy using private
entrepreneurship is allegedly thriving. Women have emerged as major actors
in this informal economy. How does this emerging reality interact with
entrenched militarism in North Korean society?



We look forward to your contributions!



*Korea Journal*

Korean National Commission for UNESCO

26 Myeongdong-gil (UNESCO Road)

Jung-gu, Seoul 04536, South Korea

Tel. +82-2-6958-4110/180

Fax +82-2-6958-4250
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