Nation building in South Korea : Koreans, Americans, and the making of a democracy

Author(s)

    • Brazinsky, Gregg

Bibliographic Information

Nation building in South Korea : Koreans, Americans, and the making of a democracy

Gregg Brazinsky

(The new Cold War history)

University of North Carolina Press, c2007

  • : cloth
  • : pbk

Available at  / 18 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Bibliography: p. [291]-302

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: cloth ISBN 9780807831205

Description

In this ambitious and innovative study, Gregg Brazinsky examines American nation building in South Korea during the Cold War. Marshalling a vast array of new American and Korean sources, he explains why South Korea was one of the few postcolonial nations that achieved rapid economic development and democratization by the end of the twentieth century. Brazinsky contends that a distinctive combination of American initiatives and Korean agency enabled South Korea's stunning transformation. On one hand, Americans supported the emergence of a developmental autocracy that spurred economic growth in a highly authoritarian manner. On the other hand, Americans sought to encourage democratization from the bottom up by fashioning new institutions and promoting a dialogue about modernization and development. Expanding the framework of traditional diplomatic history, Brazinsky examines not only state-to-state relations, but also the social and cultural interactions between Americans and South Koreans. He shows how Koreans adapted, resisted, and transformed American influence and promoted socioeconomic change that suited their own aspirations. Ultimately, Brazinsky argues, Koreans' capacity to tailor American institutions and ideas to their own purposes was the most important factor in the making of a democratic South Korea.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780807861813

Description

South Koreans tailor American ideas about economic development and democracy. This ambitious and innovative study examines American nation building in South Korea during the Cold War. Marshaling a vast array of new American and Korean sources, Gregg Brazinsky explains why South Korea was one of the few postcolonial nations that achieved rapid economic development and democratization by the end of the twentieth century. He contends that a distinctive combination of American initiatives and Korean agency enabled South Korea's stunning transformation. Expanding the framework of traditional diplomatic history, Brazinsky examines not only state-to-state relations, but also the social and cultural interactions between Americans and South Koreans. He shows how Koreans adapted, resisted, and transformed American influence and promoted socioeconomic change that suited their own aspirations.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Related Books: 1-1 of 1

Details

Page Top