Measured Excess: Status, Gender, and Consumer Nationalism in South Korea
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Book Overview
This insightful analysis of the ways in which South Korean economic development strategies have reshaped the country's national identity gives specific attention to the manner in which women, as the primary agents of consumption, have been affected by this transformation. Past scholarship on the culture of nationalism has largely focused on the ways in which institutions utilize memory and "history" to construct national identity. In a provocative departure, Laura C. Nelson challenges these assumptions with regard to South Korea, arguing that its identity has been as much tied to notions of the future as rooted in a recollection of the past.
Following a backlash against consumerism in the late 1980s, the government spearheaded a program of frugality that eschewed imported goods and foreign travel in order to strengthen South Korea's national identity. Consumption--with its focus on immediate gratification--threatened the state's future-oriented discourse of national unity. In response to this perceived danger, Nelson asserts, the government cast women as the group whose "excessive desires" for material goods were endangering the nation.Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0231116179
ISBN13:9780231116176
Release Date:November 2000
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Length:224 Pages
Weight:0.88 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Related Subjects
Asia Business Business & Finance Business & Investing Business Development Consumer Behavior Development & Growth Economics Gay & Lesbian Gender Studies History International International Business International Relations Korea Macroeconomics Marketing & Sales Political History Political Science Politics & Government Politics & Social Sciences Social Sciences Women in History Women's StudiesCustomer Reviews
2 ratings
Thought provoking study of consumerism
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
This very entertaining illuminated a developing country's discovery of consumerism. I enjoyed not ony the insight into Korean life, but the way the book put this bahavior in a broader context.
Fresh and Intelligent
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Ms. Nelson's keen eye and sensitive writing create a vivid picture of how tensions among tradition, nationalism, rapid economic development and the globalization of markets play out in the everyday life of Koreans. Her book got me thinking in new ways about shopping and the collective unconscious, both in Korea and in my own culture. I came away with a better understanding not only of Korea, but also of how anthropology is done (at least by one talented anthropologist) in a postmodern world.
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