Eurocentrism and Development in Korea

Under the global hegemony of the West, societies have interpreted the world and defined their identities through the frameworks of Eurocentric discourses. Since the mid-twentieth century, Eurocentrism has tended to be associated with economic developmentalism. The discourse of seonjinguk (developed country) has been a dominant Eurocentric developmental discourse in Korea.
However, in what historical contexts have the Koreans set seonjinguk as their national goal and yardstick to judge nations? What roles have been played by the concept of seonjinguk in Korea? What discursive frameworks did the Koreans use for their national identities and worldviews before the developmental era? Eurocentrism and Development in Korea is the first scholarly approach to those questions. Through a chronological analysis of Korea's dominant discourses from the late nineteenth century to the present, Kim demonstrates the historical nature of developmentalism and seonjinguk discourse for Korea's developmental era, and traces their genealogy to gaehwa (enlightenment) and munmyeong (civilization) discourses from a sociological historical perspective.
Providing essential knowledge about Korea's history of Eurocentrism, developmentalism and national change, this enlightening monograph will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, interested in fields such as Korean Studies, Development Studies and Global Sociology.

Jongtae Kim is Humanities Korea (HK) Research Professor in the Asiatic Research Institute at Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

CHAPTER 1 Introduction: What Is the Discourse of Seonjinguk? PART I (Chs. 2-4) From "Munmyeong" (Civilization) to "Baljeon" (Development): The 1880s - The 1950s CHAPTER 2 The Origins of Korea's Eurocentrism: Gaehwa and Munmyeong Discourses from the 1880s to the 1930s CHAPTER 3 The Politics of Modern Discourse of Civilization in Colonized Korea: The 1910s and the 1920s CHAPTER 4 Competition between Civilization and Development Discourses: The 1950s PART II (Chs. 5-7) The Rise of Developmentalism and Its Current State: The 1960s - The Present CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Developmentalism and Seonjinguk Discourse: The 1960s and the 1970s CHAPTER 6 Change in the Discourse of Seonjinguk: The 1980s and the 1990s CHAPTER 7 The Discursive Structure of Korea's Developmentalism and the Mobilization of Nation: Geundaehwa (Modernization), Segyehwa (Globalization), and Seonjinhwa (Becoming Advanced) PART III (Chs. 8-9) National and Regional Identities and Mutual Perceptions in the Development Era CHAPTER 8 A Comparison of Development Discourses in Korea, China, and Japan: National Identities and Mutual Perceptions CHAPTER 9 A Comparison of Regional Identities between Northeast Asia and Europe: The Constructions of "Self" and "Others" CHAPTER 10 Conclusion: Beyond the Discourse of Seonjinguk