Many have characterized Asia, especially East Asia, as the site of specific types of developmentalism, and in particular, the site where a varying degree of the “developmental state” structures has been established, even though recently the latter has been subject to multiple challenges in the region in the midst of democratization and neoliberalization processes. On the other hand, the Asian (especially East Asian) developmentalism and the developmental statism have been enjoying popularity among policy circle as a viable corrective to neoliberal open market system, and has often been uncritically replicated in different political settings. We hope that this series will create a forum in which we reflect upon what developmentalism and developmental statism were in the past, and what they are in the contemporary Asia that has increasingly experienced globalization, transnational movements and urbanization, and critically rethink their rise in some policy and academic circles. Our invited speakers will reflect on, discuss and unpack the political, economic, social and institutional natures of Asian developmentalism and its changes in diverse national settings.

This series is organized by YCAR Associates Laam Hae (Political Science), Hong Kal (Visual Arts) and Jesook Song (Anthropology, University of Toronto)

 

Series events

Rostow’s Fingerprints, Park’s Boot Prints, Lee’s Rhetorical Imprint: Transnational Dimensions of South Korean and Singaporean Developmentalism in the 1960s-1990s
Jim Glassman, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia
Friday, 25 September 2015

Community Art in Korea: Dongdaemun Rooftop Paradise (DRP) 
Park Chan-kook, artist, art director and teacher at the Seoul Youth Hub, South Korea
Friday, 27 November 2015 | Noon to 2pm| Room 280A, Second Floor, York Lanes | York University

Queer Worlding in the Urban Age
Natalie Oswin, Assistant Professor, Geography, McGill University
4 December 2015 | 12:30to 2:30pm | Room 305, Third Floor, York Lanes | York University

Developmentalism, Knowledge, Asia and the West
Abidin Kusno, Professor, Faculty of Environmental Science, York University
26 February 2016 | 12:30 to 2:30pm | Room 280A, Second Floor, York Lanes | York University

 

For more information: ycar@yorku.ca