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Analysis on the Cohabitation of Developmentalism and Neoliberalism in Korea: Changes in the Korean Developmental State since the 1990s and Varieties of Developmental-Neoliberal Mixes

Park Sang-young 1

1한국교원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This article aims to analyze the continuing cohabitation of developmentalism and neoliberalism in the Korean state since the 1990s. Three different kinds of developmental-neoliberal mixes are discussed. First, ‘residual’ mix is the temporary coexistence of developmentalism and neoliberalism as a series of radical neoliberal reforms in Korea have transformed the nature of the Korean developmental state into a neoliberal state since the 1990s while most of institutional legacies of the Korean developmental state are fading away. Second, ‘path-dependent’ mix is a somewhat long-term and stable combination of developmentalism and neoliberalism mainly due to the strong path-dependence of the Korean developmental state institutions. Third, ‘synthetic’ mix is a hybrid mixture of developmentalism and neoliberalism as the two elements constantly interact and interpenetrate with each other, giving rise to something that belongs to neither of them. In this paper, these three mixes of developmentalism and neoliberalism in relation to the Korean state and its changes since the 1990s are discussed with a focus on their causes of origin, institutional outcomes, and theoretical implications. This paper suggests that we understand the currently existing mixes of developmentalism and neoliberalism in the Korean state not so much as one homogeneous and passing phenomenon but as a set of diverse phenomena with distinct internal dynamics.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.