Articles by Hyejin Kim
Agriculture and Human Values , 2021
South Korean cultivators share features with counterparts in both the global south and north. Thi... more South Korean cultivators share features with counterparts in both the global south and north. This combination of traits has produced a diversity of sources that underpin a food sovereignty movement. A case study of t’ojong, or native, seed activism illustrates how local systems of meaning and particular constellations of interests make food sovereignty appealing to a broad coalition of farmers, consumers, part-time cultivators, agricultural scientists, and activists for farmers and for women. The country’s experience demonstrates that responses to market encroachment on food production provide only part of the force driving food sovereignty movements.
East Asian Policy, 2019
Southeast Asia’s significance to the Korean peninsula is growing. South Korea has deepening trade... more Southeast Asia’s significance to the Korean peninsula is growing. South Korea has deepening trade, investment and assistance relationships in the region, while ASEAN’s non-judgmental approach to diplomacy is useful in dealing with Pyongyang. Beyond hosting summits between American and North Korean leaders, Southeast Asia is in a position to mediate North Korea’s greater international engagement and to assist in the acceleration of interaction between the North and the South.
Educational Review, 2021
This comparative analysis aims to capture the complex roles and positionings of the International... more This comparative analysis aims to capture the complex roles and positionings of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in conjunction with local education systems in Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea. Our analysis focused on how the IB’s institutional legitimacy is presented in the three societies. We conducted a documentary analysis of texts on the introduction and implementation of IB programmes into local school systems. Our findings suggest that there are commonalities and variations in how the IB is interpreted by key local agents and is positioned into local education systems. Specifically, across the three societies, the IB has expanded continuously. At the same time, its institutionalisation process varies by each society’s socio-historical context and needs: substantive legitimacy as the international curriculum of choice in Hong Kong, a quiet supplement to elite education in Singapore, and instrumental curriculum borrowing for fixing the education system in Korea. We also find that the institutionalisation of the IB is limited at a symbolic level and controlled by the Singaporean government, while the IB is saliently promoted by local education authorities in the context of education reform in Korea. The institutionalisation process of the IB in Hong Kong is primarily swayed by market principles under the existing school choice system.
GLOBALISATION, SOCIETIES AND EDUCATION, 2019
Across Asia, the international school scene has experienced marketisation
and corporatisation. A ... more Across Asia, the international school scene has experienced marketisation
and corporatisation. A consequence is that many wealthier families –
outside of expatriate communities – view international schools as a
desirable choice, and they seek ways to enrol their children in
international schools. States have responded to this situation through
policies that manage the boundaries between public or national school
systems and international schools. States have made compromises in
their international school policies – compromises that allow markets to
creep into the broader education systems. This mode of market creation
is subtle: Neither families nor state agents advocate for ‘choice’ as a
value, nor are there public discourses around international schools in the
region celebrating ‘choice’ in education. The compromises made in
international school policy relate to whole education systems and have
implications for inequality, citizenship, and national identity.
Journal OF Globalization Studies , 2019
What do calls for food sovereignty look like in a context with little agriculture and limited opp... more What do calls for food sovereignty look like in a context with little agriculture and limited opportunities for resistance? Despite the small number of producers, the lack of overt resistance, and the absence of ties to the global food sovereignty movement, food activists in Singapore articulate a quiet but radical critique of how the state manages globalization. This critique contains elements of a food sovereignty movement in Singapore. This movement faces two sets of challenges. First, the state’s control over resources allows for mainstream visions of agriculture to gain greater support and places food sovereignty activists at the mercy of government. Second, commercial pressures raise obstacles to making farming an attractive vocation or hobby for Singaporeans. This example provides a window onto subtle battles over the management of a society’s entanglement in global production networks.
Made in China, 2018
The Candlelight Movement of 2016 and
2017 that successfully called for president
Park Geun-hye to... more The Candlelight Movement of 2016 and
2017 that successfully called for president
Park Geun-hye to step down is among the
largest social movements in South Korean
history. This movement attracted millions
of participants over a sustained period of
time, while maintaining strikingly peaceful
demonstrations that ultimately achieved their
goal. This essay looks at the role of the Internet
and new media in fostering a new generation
of activists and laying the foundation for a
successful social mobilisation
Europe-Asia Studies, 2018
South Koreans pursuing business opportunities in China have routinely sought assistance Chinese-b... more South Koreans pursuing business opportunities in China have routinely sought assistance Chinese-born Koreans who possess the linguistic and cultural skills to make help ventures in China successful. While shared ethnicity has proven to be a resource for furthering transnational business, emphasis on common identity can quickly deteriorate into emphasis on separate identities. This paper examines both the ways that shared ethnicity has facilitated business between China and South Korea and the evolution of adaptations to the distrust that has also emerged. The study contributes to discussions about the interplay between cultural identities and transnational business.
Journal of Asian Studies , 2017
On December 9, 2016, South Korea's National Assembly voted to impeach the country's president, Pa... more On December 9, 2016, South Korea's National Assembly voted to impeach the country's president, Park Geun-hye, over abuse of power among other charges. Three months later, the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment and she was dismissed from office—the first South Korean president to be removed this way. New elections were called. Park was then made the subject of a criminal investigation and jailed for the trial. The allegations center on Park's relationship with an old family friend, Ch'oe Sun-sil, who became involved in official decision-making and used her influence to extract funds from businesses, but the scandal widened to involve more individuals.
The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher , 2016
The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a new type of player in primary and secondary educ... more The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a new type of player in primary and secondary education in the Asia Pacific. This type is the transnational corporation (TNC) specializing in schools. I refer to these organizations as Education TNCs, which I define as private firms that operate for-profit schools in multiple countries. This paper examines the rise of Education TNCs that run international schools in Asian countries. While a great deal has been written about for-profit education in Western countries, edu-business in the Asia Pacific has received less attention. This paper works to fill that gap. I trace the rise of the region’s major Education TNCs and analyze their efforts to expand. Against the expectation of “school choice” advocates that for-profit schooling should bring diversity through competition, I find that the growth of Education TNCs in the Asia Pacific has been a story of a few large, marketing-oriented players offering similar packages. Educationists in the Asia Pacific should pay attention to Education TNCs for two reasons. First, the activities of Education TNCs in the international school sector can shed light on what for-profit schools would look like if governments in the region were to allow school choice reforms. Second, since these firms are large, influential, and motivated to succeed in the lucrative Asia Pacific market, they may have a greater and greater impact on the education landscape in the region.
South Korea’s democratization appeared to mean the demise of a harsh political style that was dom... more South Korea’s democratization appeared to mean the demise of a harsh political style that was dominant during the country’s rapid industrialization. The 2012 presidential election placed in power a leader who deliberately invoked the style and policies of that predemocratic period. The election saw a sharp divide between voters aged fifty and over, who overwhelmingly supported the winning candidate Park Geun-hye, and those under fifty. This result is surprising: Koreans in their fifties and sixties had demonstrated against the heavy-handed measures of Park’s father, Park Chung Hee, whom the candidate repeatedly invoked in her campaigning. How could people who had struggled against dictatorship and later won turn to a symbol of that nondemocratic period for leadership? The essay argues that a reinterpretation of the authoritarian period and nostalgia for policies of that time among an increasingly large population aged fifty and older played a role in the creation of a key support base for Park. Against the background of an aging population, the reinterpretation of Park Chung Hee helped to generate an electoral victory for his daughter. The policies and politics that drove South Korea’s economic rise not only are important to understanding the past but also their memory continues to challenge the country’s new democratic values.
Books by Hyejin Kim
NIAS Press , 2020
Book Name: East–West Reflections on Demonization
Invited Talks by Hyejin Kim
The First China – ASEAN International Conference for Public Administration, 2018
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Articles by Hyejin Kim
and corporatisation. A consequence is that many wealthier families –
outside of expatriate communities – view international schools as a
desirable choice, and they seek ways to enrol their children in
international schools. States have responded to this situation through
policies that manage the boundaries between public or national school
systems and international schools. States have made compromises in
their international school policies – compromises that allow markets to
creep into the broader education systems. This mode of market creation
is subtle: Neither families nor state agents advocate for ‘choice’ as a
value, nor are there public discourses around international schools in the
region celebrating ‘choice’ in education. The compromises made in
international school policy relate to whole education systems and have
implications for inequality, citizenship, and national identity.
2017 that successfully called for president
Park Geun-hye to step down is among the
largest social movements in South Korean
history. This movement attracted millions
of participants over a sustained period of
time, while maintaining strikingly peaceful
demonstrations that ultimately achieved their
goal. This essay looks at the role of the Internet
and new media in fostering a new generation
of activists and laying the foundation for a
successful social mobilisation
Books by Hyejin Kim
Invited Talks by Hyejin Kim
and corporatisation. A consequence is that many wealthier families –
outside of expatriate communities – view international schools as a
desirable choice, and they seek ways to enrol their children in
international schools. States have responded to this situation through
policies that manage the boundaries between public or national school
systems and international schools. States have made compromises in
their international school policies – compromises that allow markets to
creep into the broader education systems. This mode of market creation
is subtle: Neither families nor state agents advocate for ‘choice’ as a
value, nor are there public discourses around international schools in the
region celebrating ‘choice’ in education. The compromises made in
international school policy relate to whole education systems and have
implications for inequality, citizenship, and national identity.
2017 that successfully called for president
Park Geun-hye to step down is among the
largest social movements in South Korean
history. This movement attracted millions
of participants over a sustained period of
time, while maintaining strikingly peaceful
demonstrations that ultimately achieved their
goal. This essay looks at the role of the Internet
and new media in fostering a new generation
of activists and laying the foundation for a
successful social mobilisation
In October 2016, South Koreans citizens started coming together for a series of “candlelight” demonstrations. They demanded the resignation of president Park Geun Hye, who was suspected of abusing her power. The protests – the largest in the country in the past 30 years – brought attention to the issue, which was eventually resolved through impeachment, dismissal, and prosecution of Park. Social media and non-traditional media organizations were crucial for the development of the massive but surprisingly peaceful candlelight movement. This episode speaks to concerns about the role of the internet and internet news in particular in politics. I show how entrepreneurial journalists and activists used the internet to create space for offering critical reflections on politics. Media suppression under the Lee Myung Bak government (2008-13) drove investigative journalists out of mainstream media and inspired many of them to begin new media organizations on the internet. Their activities drew attention to underlying social problems (in particular, entrenched inequality) and helped propagate awareness of the president’s wrongdoing. The internet’s contribution to building a thoughtful, critical public sphere runs counter to views that the internet is easily subject to manipulation by the government or the propagation of “fake news” for political purposes. Rather, we need to consider the political and media context in order to understand the political potential of the internet.
The move came in the wake of weekly demonstrations demanding Park's removal from office. The scandal brought record numbers of citizens onto the streets of Seoul and other major cities. Now, as the Constitutional Court considers the impeachment, prosecutors are investigating a widening circle of influential figures and politicians are positioning themselves for the next contest for the presidency.
This roundtable considers these current affairs, giving attention both to the context that may have set the stage for the scandal as well as the possible directions South Korea's democracy is headed.
While much of the world presents North Korea as a “pariah” standing against the international community, Southeast Asia largely rejects this view of world politics. Governments in the region have long espoused an openness to dialogue without judgment.
This attitude is precisely the one that is needed on North Korea.