Suchergebnisse

"Labour, Geopolitics and Development in East Asia shows that such inter-linkages between labour, geopolitical transformations, and states' developmental strategies have been much more central to East Asia's development than has commonly been recognised"--

The existing literature on North Korea has been divided over whether the country's state ideology of Juche should be regarded as a variant of Soviet Marxism-Leninism or whether the explicit voluntarism of Juche means that it should be viewed as a distinctive indigenous ideology. Drawing on Trotsky's theory of uneven and combined development and Gramsci's theory of ideology, the paper argues that North Korea's status as a geopolitically insecure postcolonial country engaged in a forced march from "backwardness" to a modern industrialized economy has had a decisive impact on both the form and content of North Korean state ideology. Understood as a form of developmental nationalism that seeks not only to legitimize authoritarian rule but also to create a collective subjectivity suited the task of rapid catch-up national development, Juche constitutes a combined ideological form that rests on Marxist-Leninist origins but has deliberately drawn on existing forms of "common sense" conducive towards the mass mobilization of society. In doing so, this paper critically engages with the argument that the voluntarism of Juche represents a decisive break from the supposedly objective laws of Marxism and Marxism-Leninism, thereby "turning Marx on his head." (Crit Asian Stud / GIGA)

Introduction: The development-geopolitics nexus in North Korea -- State building and late development in North Korea -- Post-war reconstruction and catch-up industrialisation -- Geopolitical contestation and the challenge to North Korean development -- Economic decline and the crisis of the 1990s -- Marketisation and the transformation of the North Korean state -- North Korean economic reform in the shadow of China -- Dependency in Chinese-North Korean relations? -- International sanctions and North Korean development.

This forum arises from an online event on the theory of uneven and combined development (UCD). Following an introduction which proposes a 'special affinity' between UCD and International Relations (IR), four presenters at that event discuss their 'view from outside' UCD, including perspectives from Global Historical Sociology, Realism, Decolonial theory and Gramscian Marxism. Meanwhile four members of the audience add their views on UCD and disciplinarity, the need for pluralism in UCD methodology, UCD and 'whiteness', and its potential contribution to ecological theory and practice