Western-Centrism and Contemporary Korean Political Thought

(Hardback)

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This book is an outgrowth of critical examination of Western political theory embedded in Western-centrism and the tumultuous ideational processes by which contemporary Korean political theory and reality have intensely interacted (both in convergent and divergent ways) with it. To conduct such examination the book addresses complex and variegated questions regarding Western-centrism: What is Western-centrism How is Western-centrism to be compared and contrasted with other forms of centrism such as Sinocentrism, capitalism (bourgeois-centrism), patriarchy (male-centrism), and racism (white-centrism) How has Western-centrism evolved in world history and in the history of Western political thought How has Western-centrism shaped the evolution of contemporary Korean political thought What kinds of ill effects has Western-centrism brought about in Korean society and academia And, ultimately, how can Western-centrism be overcome

Reviews

Michel Foucault famously stated that the modern West, while priding itself of its "democracy", has failed to abandon autocracy by refusing to "cut off the king's head". This fact is patently evident in the global arena in the continued Western assertion of planetary hegemony and domination. In his book, Kang Jung In valiantly wrestles with this conundrum from a "subaltern" Korean perspective, placing his hope in the emergence of a global civil society marked by "polycentric multiculturalism". Without equating a stubborn local retreat, polycentrism in his view requires a combination of global openness and cultural resistance, more specifically a "modernization of tradition" involving "learning the new by reviewing the old". Powerfully argued, the book is a vade mecum for anyone seeking a transit from Western-centrism into a more equitable global interaction among countries and civilizations. -- Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame
Kang Jung In's book is a courageous and tenacious attempt to measure the cost to modern Korean understandings of politics inflicted by the western provenance of most of the central categories through which its citizens now speak and think about the forms political life assumes in Korea today. It draws on his experience of being taught by Hanna Pitkin to assess the prospects for re-centering their understanding in Korea itself -- John Dunn, Fellow of King's College & Emeritus Professor of Political Theory, University of Cambridge

Author Bio

Kang Jung In is professor in the Department of Political Science at Sogang University.