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The Parallax Visions of Economic Democracy in South Korea: A Critique

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Book cover Korea’s Quest for Economic Democratization

Abstract

In the 2012 South Korean presidential election, ‘Economic Democratization’ became the most decisive issue. In fact, past and current drives for economic democratization have been part of an overall process that has involved people designing alternative visions of the economy. In order to understand better the origins of this process, this chapter traces and analyzes the intersection between economic democracy and neoliberalism in Korea. This chapter explains the role of agricultural and rural matters in surmounting the limits of economic democracy and in determining the make-up and direction of drives for alternative economies. It especially focuses on a new food movement led by agricultural cooperatives, such as Hansalim and iCOOP Korea.

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Correspondence to Albert L. Park .

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Park, A.L. (2018). The Parallax Visions of Economic Democracy in South Korea: A Critique. In: Kim, Y. (eds) Korea’s Quest for Economic Democratization. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57066-2_8

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