Demystifying the developmental state: a critique of the theories and practices of the state in the development of capital relations in Korea

My thesis aims to demystify the form of the Korean state by unveiling the theoretical shortcomings of developmental state theories and re-examining the historical development of the Korean state in the context of the formation and reproduction of capital relations in Korea. The first part develops a Marxist critique of theories of the developmental state. Through a close reading of Marxist theories of the state and Marx's own theory of value and commodity fetishism, I derive an understanding of the state as a differentiated moment of the reproduction of capital relations. Accordingly, I define the most serious theoretical shortcoming of the statist approach as its understanding of the state as a set of institutions and of capital as a set of businessmen. This approach enabled statist to define the state in East Asia as a state 'autonomous' from capital by deriving the form of the state from the nature of the seriously narrowed-down state-society relations as relations between state officials and a group of businessmen. On the basis of an understanding of capital as a social relation through which social labour is organised toward commodity production to make profits, and of the state as a social form through which unequal class relations are inverted into class-neutral relations between citizens, I argue that the developmental autonomy of the state, which underlies developmental state theory, results from a mystified form of the capitalist state and contributes to mystifying the state further. In the second half of this thesis, I present the Asian 'developmental state' as resulting from a particular mystification of the state in the historical development of the highly politicised formation and reproduction of capitalist social relations, in which the state's complementary role to capitalist development was maximised in suppressing labour, on the one hand, but also at the same time its differentiation from individual capitals in strictly regulating financial flows and selectively promoting industries developed to a great extent, on the other. An extensive investigation into the state's involvement in forming and reproducing capital relations in the 1960s and 1970s shows the real process of building-up the mystified state. Furthermore, I will show the demise of this mystified state through analysing crises of the politicised reproduction of capital relations, by a massive politicisation of domestic class conflicts, on the one hand, and the weakening of state control over individual capitals, particularly over the chaebol (Korean conglomerates) as capitalist development deepened in a growing involvement in the global economy from the 1980s, on the other. On the basis of this historical exposition, I also attempt to grasp the nature of the restructuring of capital relations in Korea in the aftermath of the Asian crisis in 1997, which is understood as an ultimate expression of the amalgamation of the crisis of the early configuration of capitalist social relations with the growing involvement of Korean capitals into the crisis-ridden development of global capitalism. Looking closely at the development of the increasing marketisation of the reproduction of capital relations, I argue that, although the form of the state has undergbne a significant transition, it is still subjected to the further development of new forms and subjectivity of class struggle, through which the unresolved contradiction of the newly created basis of capital accumulation manifested itself by putting the market-based reformulation of capital relations into an increasingly difficult condition

Demystifying the developmental state : a critique of the theories and practices of the state in the development of capital relations in Korea

My thesis aims to demystify the form of the Korean state by unveiling the theoretical shortcomings of developmental state theories and re-examining the historical development of the Korean state in the context of the formation and reproduction of capital relations in Korea. The first part develops a Marxist critique of theories of the developmental state. Through a close reading of Marxist theories of the state and Marx's own theory of value and commodity fetishism, I derive an understanding of the state as a differentiated moment of the reproduction of capital relations. Accordingly, I define the most serious theoretical shortcoming of the statist approach as its understanding of the state as a set of institutions and of capital as a set of businessmen. This approach enabled statist to define the state in East Asia as a state 'autonomous' from capital by deriving the form of the state from the nature of the seriously narrowed-down state-society relations as relations between state officials and a group of businessmen. On the basis of an understanding of capital as a social relation through which social labour is organised toward commodity production to make profits, and of the state as a social form through which unequal class relations are inverted into class-neutral relations between citizens, I argue that the developmental autonomy of the state, which underlies developmental state theory, results from a mystified form of the capitalist state and contributes to mystifying the state further. In the second half of this thesis, I present the Asian 'developmental state' as resulting from a particular mystification of the state in the historical development of the highly politicised formation and reproduction of capitalist social relations, in which the state's complementary role to capitalist development was maximised in suppressing labour, on the one hand, but also at the same time its differentiation from individual capitals in strictly regulating financial flows and selectively promoting industries developed to a great extent, on the other. An extensive investigation into the state's involvement in forming and reproducing capital relations in the 1960s and 1970s shows the real process of building-up the mystified state. Furthermore, I will show the demise of this mystified state through analysing crises of the politicised reproduction of capital relations, by a massive politicisation of domestic class conflicts, on the one hand, and the weakening of state control over individual capitals, particularly over the chaebol (Korean conglomerates) as capitalist development deepened in a growing involvement in the global economy from the 1980s, on the other. On the basis of this historical exposition, I also attempt to grasp the nature of the restructuring of capital relations in Korea in the aftermath of the Asian crisis in 1997, which is understood as an ultimate expression of the amalgamation of the crisis of the early configuration of capitalist social relations with the growing involvement of Korean capitals into the crisis-ridden development of global capitalism. Looking closely at the development of the increasing marketisation of the reproduction of capital relations, I argue that, although the form of the state has undergbne a significant transition, it is still subjected to the further development of new forms and subjectivity of class struggle, through which the unresolved contradiction of the newly created basis of capital accumulation manifested itself by putting the market-based reformulation of capital relations into an increasingly difficult condition.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Reclaiming Labour Law and Beyond

This introductory chapter tries to brief new developments in labour laws in Asia particularly in regard to increasing informal forms of labour across Asia. The first part of this introduction deals with the intrinsic contradiction of labour law in which labour appeared to be a commodity to be protected from market despotism, but nonetheless as a commodity. The second part discusses the relations between formal/informal labour and labour laws by tracing the historical trajectory of modern labour law and formal forms of labour as a reference point of all the discussion about the informalisation of labour. The third part addresses the uneven development of the informalisation of labour in Asia, with particular focus on its impact on women workers. The last part of the introduction tries to draw some strategic implications of the informalisation of labour on the future of the labour movement in Asia

The neoliberal rise of East Asia and social movements of labour: four moments and a challenge

The celebrated ‘rise of East Asia’ as a centre of global capitalism resulted from the increasing integration of East Asia into the expanding circuit of capital that turned most of the East Asian population into ‘capitalist value-subjects’. This means that the vast majority of East Asian population now have to make and reproduce living at different moments of production, reproduction and realisation of capitalist value. However this integration does not create these new value subjects as a singular and cohesive class of working women and men. Instead, it produces many segmented labouring classes whose livelihoods depend on insecure and oppressive wage employment or a wide range of survival activities for money income in the informal economy. The result is the paradox of East Asian development - the increase of the traditional working class has been marginal in the rise of East Asia as a workshop of the world. This again created a complex condition for social movements of labour. A close look at the current struggles of new value subjects in Thailand, Korea, Cambodia and China reveals that these new value subjects are capable of going beyond the boundaries set up by the previous struggles of organised labour. However, it also tell us that there is a serious disjuncture between the emerging social movements of labour and the existing trade union movement of the ‘industrial working class’ in East Asia. This challenge calls for a reconsideration of the theories and practices of the labour movement that presuppose a process of coherent working class formation