The political economy of aid-oriented foreign policy change: elite perspectives on mercantilism in Korea and Ghana

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe thesis examines how elite perspectives on foreign aid affect the subsequent path of aid dependence. The focus is on aid-seeking foreign policy change. Two foreign policy change cases are examined for the study, which took place in Korea under Park Chung-hee and in Ghana under Rawlings through a lens of comparative historical analysis. The thesis aims to make two original contributions to knowledge. First, it explains recipient foreign policy using two different forms of mercantilism, and second, it reveals the dependent path created by the mercantilist oriented elite. Mercantilism in the thesis is used as dual-frameworked concept. First, it is a lens to see state behaviour. Despite the fact that mercantilism has been mainly used to explain a donor‘s behaviour, it can elucidate that of an aid-recipient state when the aid-seeking country is in dire need of the foreign aid for the survival of the state. The thesis applies mercantilism to explain aid-receiving countries‘behaviour. Second, more importantly, mercantilism also explains elite perspectives. The elite in aid receiving countries search for foreign aid not only for the wealth and power of their state, but also for the prosperity and survival of themselves. Mercantilism is used as an ostensible principle in practicing the private search for advantages of the elite. The thesis uses the dual-mercantilism idea to examine aid-seeking foreign policy in Korea and Ghana. In Korea, the elite saw the key to their survival in industrialising the nation, and their search for foreign aid took place based on that raison d’être. In Ghana, on the other hand, the elite found the way to their survival and prosperity in acquiring more foreign aid and the aid per se became the ultimate goal. The thesis finds industrial mercantilism a useful framework to understand the elite perspective in Kore

Leadership and bureaucracy in developmental states : case studies of Korea and Ghana

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-72).This thesis argues that the emergence of a developmental state is contingent on a developmental bureaucracy, which is in turn spawned by a developmental leadership. A developmental leadership creates a developmental bureaucracy through the depoliticisation of economic issues and the insulation of the bureaucracy from political interference. In substantiating this central argument, two countries – South Korea under Park Chung-hee, and Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah – are studied. South Korea and Ghana present contrasting fortunes of progress on the path of development. In 1957 when Ghana gained independence, its per capita income was more than that of South Korea

Who watches Korean TV dramas in Africa? A preliminary study in Ghana

More and more Ghanaians are watching Korean TV dramas. These are not just ordinary Ghanaians because they are from a particular socioeconomic bracket; they have a certain level of education, access to screen devices and Internet, accumulated previous experience of watching other foreign screen products and, most importantly, a peer network with those who can afford these items. Drawing from qualitative work and focus-group interviews, the article argues that Korean TV dramas are spread efficiently by taking advantage of those contributing components within the privileged network, but they remain within the network due to the lack of those necessary components outside the bracket. The recipients find Korean media products attractive because they are fresh, funny, socially decent, different, yet close to them vis-à-vis Hollywood and Nollywood

When film met aid, in a city of a Southern donor

This study examines the transformation of Koreas development cooperation in light of expanding inclusivity. Koreas economic development is characterised by state-centrism, and so has been the Korean development cooperation. Thus, the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan in 2011 championing a plurality of development agents offered an opportunity for Korea to exercise the global leadership in supporting sub-state actors. Simultaneously, Busan has been shaping Busan-style ODA based on its sectoral comparative advantage – a knowledge sharing in the film industry. Based on understanding the path of a politically odourless Korean development cooperation, this study argues that the statemunicipal collaboration in Korea, a conformist emerging donor with a short history of democracy and a long tradition of developmental state, presents an alternative version of cities engagement breaking the traditional North-South dynamics both in development cooperation and the cultural and creative industr

Hallyu, Public Diplomacy, and Development Cooperation: Korea’s Cultural Diplomacy Concocted for Africa

This study examines the concoction of hallyu, public diplomacy and development cooperation in Africa wherein lies dangers and opportunities of Korea’s cultural diplomacy. Drawing on policy studies and additional field research in Ghana and South Africa, this study argues that the long-run consequences of hallyu public diplomacy in Africa are not in sync with the proclaimed narrative in development cooperation in the creative industries in the continent. Despite Korea’s new strategy of development cooperation in the creative industry, such discrepancy and the pursuit of each diplomacy in a silo fashion may offset the intended outcomes of each diplomacy and lead to a lack of coherence in Korea’s foreign policy in Africa. By highlighting both potential risks and opportunities in the triple conjuncture, this study aims to extend understanding of a less studied area of the South-South cultural engagement