Das Fremde als das Eigene : Entstehung der südkoreanischen Wirtschaftskultur durch fremdbestimmte Modernisierung

Abstract

This thesis tries to search for historical origins of two salient features of South Korean economic culture: authoritarianism and particularism. Contrary to prevailing opinion that these features originated from Confucianism, which was the state ideology in the Chosun dynasty, this work contends that they are rather influenced by the way how the country was modernized under foreign influences since the end of 19th century. Social Darwinism, Japanese colonial rule and Korean War caused by separation of the Korean peninsular by two foreign powers Soviet Union and USA have on the one hand fostered authoritarian view of state and society. On the other hand the injustice done by the colonial and Korean state has induces the Korean populace to mistrust the state and its official legal system, which fostered particularistic practices like sectionalism, cronyism and corruption.