Vers un régime civilo-militaire démocratique en République de Corée

Cet article tente de falsifier l'hypothèse selon laquelle la diffusion par-delà les barrières culturelles de normes propres à un régime civilo-militaire démocratique dépend de la configuration spécifique de certaines variables. La République de Corée constitue un cas pertinent à cette démarche : ce pays a été considérablement influencé par les États-Unis, les caractéristiques culturelles des deux pays diffèrent considérablement et, enfin, la Corée du Sud doit composer avec plusieurs des variables rendant ce pays peu susceptible d'adopter des normes démocratiques. L'article présente brièvement les régimes civilo-militaires sud-coréens qui se sont succédé depuis la fondation de la République et un bilan provisoire de la situation actuelle afin de déterminer dans quelle mesure le pays a adopté un régime civilo-militaire démocratique, il en ressort que la Corée du Sud est parvenue a établir un régime civilo-militaire démocratique malgré l'absence de certains des facteurs associés à l'émergence d'un tel régime. Cette conclusion soulève la nécessité de repenser certaines des variables explicatives retenues pour expliquer la transmission de régimes dans des sociétés aux cultures différentes.This paper attempts to falsify the hypothesis that under an appropriate configuration of variables, the diffusion of norms pertaining to a democratic civil-military regime is possible across cultures. It uses South Korea as a case study for that purpose because that country has been considerably influenced by the United States but also remains vastly different culturally and displays many of the least auspicious variables for the diffusion of democratic norms. How much South Korea has gone towards the adoption of a democratic civil-military regime is discussed in light of a succinct historical review of civil-military regimes since the creation of the ROK and an interim assessment of the current civil-military regime. The article argues that South Korea has done remarkably well in implementing a democratic civil-military regime, despite the absence of critical factors that should have helped to achieve it. The finding points toward the need for a reassessment of the explanatory variables used to understand the diffusion of regimes across cultures

Religions, Charity, and Non-State Welfare in Contemporary China

This paper is part of broader research on social welfare, understood in its broadest sense as social security, education, and health care, which the state has taken over gradually from religions as it has established its authority and thereby the ontological and the teleological legitimacy of secularity as a pillar of modernity. The paper explores the Chinese Communist Party’s evolving attitude towards religious affairs and philanthropy. In many societies, secularity has been the response to the problems of individual freedom, inter-religious conflict, and social differentiation for the sake of efficiency and due to industrialization. In these societies, the state, and, subsequently, medical and educational establishments, gradually wrested social welfare management away from religious institutions. This process has advanced most in highly industrialized societies, and has taken different forms based on denominational differences, political alignments, and class coalitions.1 The process still faces contestation from conservative forces that would like to see religious associations take charge of a greater array of social services. This is particularly the case in the United States. In post-colonial societies,2 there has been considerable variation in the welfare state’s commitments and ideals. However, most new states have failed to match the achievements of the liberal, industrialized economies of North America, Western Europe, Oceania, and Japan. Religious institutions have remained important providers of social welfare and have even become involved in development. This reality has received increasing recognition from international organizations, and there has also been significant progress in research on this subject.

Lucien Bianco, La révolution fourvoyée: Parcours dans la Chine du xxe siècle (Revolution derailed: Journeys in twentieth century China)

This anthology introduced by Michel Bonnin and prefaced by Marie-Claire Bergère exemplifies the career of an iconoclastic thinker whose ideas met with indifference from the public at large and much scepticism on the part of the Maoist regime’s admirers in the 1960s but who has since been proved right. The historian’s ten essays in this collection have lost none of their relevance, even the oldest of them, “La page blanche” (The blank page). Written during the Cultural Revolution, when few sou..

Joanna Handlin Smith,The Art of Doing Good. Charity in Late MingChina

Joanna Handlin Smith,The Art of Doing Good. Charity in Late MingChina,Berkeley, University of California Press, 2009, 406 p. Directrice du prestigieux Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Joanna Handlin Smith a rassemblé dans cet ouvrage le fruit de plus de plus de deux décennies de recherche, les matériaux présentés dans cette monographie ayant déjà fait l’objet de publications dans les périodiques scientifiques Journal for Asian Studies et Journal for the Economic and Social History of the O..

Vincent Goossaert et David A. Palmer, The Religious Question in Modern China

L’historien Vincent Goossaert et l’anthropologue David Palmer ont mis en commun leur expertise respective pour rendre compte des extraordinaires changements observés depuis maintenant plusieurs décennies au sein du religieux en monde chinois. Les auteurs approchent le sujet selon deux perspectives, historique et sociologique. Dans les sept premiers chapitres de la première partie, ils retracent les différentes étapes dans l’évolution de la « question religieuse ». Le premier chapitre introdui..

Buddhist Charities and China's Social Policy

This paper explores the possibility that Chinese Buddhist institutions can represent a source of alternate civility conducive to a more open political system. The paper starts to explore the issue from a comparative perspective and considers three area of contention between the state and religious authorities in which the latter can advance the interests of society: education, health care, and relief. After a brief survey of social policies and the role granted by the state to religious institutions as providers of services in recent years, the essay considers the philanthropic activities of Buddhist institutions. This survey looks at some of their achievements and their shortcomings, and notes that they have adopted the same cautious attitude as their co-religionists in Taiwan, which may nurture an alternate civility, but does not sustain necessarily political reform.Les institutions bouddhistes chinoises représentent-elles une source de sociabilité nouvelle pouvant favoriser une évolution vers un système politique plus ouvert ? On peut y répondre dans une perspective comparée qui prend en compte trois domaines d'intervention où des conflits peuvent émerger entre autorités étatiques et religieuses: l'éducation, la santé, et l'aide publique. Après un survol des politiques sociales chinoises et du rôle minimal dévolu aux institutions religieuses dans leur mise en œuvre, il est fait état des actions philanthropiques des institutions bouddhistes. Celles-ci ont adopté la même prudence que leurs collègues taïwanaises: une attitude propice à la civilité, certes, mais pas un encouragement à la réforme politique.Este artículo explora la posibilidad de que las instituciones budistas chinos pueden ser una fuente de nuevas habilidades sociales que pueden promover un sistema político más abierto. El artículo aborda esta cuestión desde una perspectiva comparativa y considera tres áreas de intervención donde pueden surgir conflictos entre las autoridades estatales y religiosas en la que éste puede favorecer los intereses de la sociedad: la educación, la salud y el apoyo del público. Después de un breve estudio de las políticas sociales de China y el papel mínimo asignado a las instituciones religiosas en su aplicación, el artículo considera que las instituciones filantrópicas budista. Este estudio de los logros alcanzados por la constatación de que han adoptado la misma actitud prudente que sus contrapartes en Taiwán: lo que puede favorezca la civilidad, sin duda, pero no necesariamente sostener la reforma política

Vincent Goossaert et David A. Palmer, The Religious Question in Modern China

Historian Vincent Goossaert and anthropologist David Palmer have pooled the expertise in their respective fields to take stock of the extraordinary changes taking place over the past several decades in the Chinese religious landscape. They approach the subject through two perspectives – historical and sociological. In the first seven chapters of Part I, the authors retrace the different stages in the evolution of the “religious question.” Chapter 1 introduces the characteristics of Imperial C..