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Confucianism and Modernization in East Asia

Critical Reflections

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  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Kim Kyong-Dong

    1. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

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  • Offers a new, original and relevant take on what Asia and Confucianism means to the intellectual worlds of the East and West.

  • Uses the alternative theory of selective modernization in the process of international acculturation and adaptive change of indigenization of modernization in society.

  • Considers changes in western attitudes towards Confucianism and its relevance to the process of modernization.

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Confucianism and Modernization: Meta-Theoretical Discourse Analysis

    • Kim Kyong-Dong
    Pages 1-41

  3. Confucianism and Modernization in East Asia Compared (I): The First-Wave Modernization

    • Kim Kyong-Dong
    Pages 43-103

  4. Confucianism and Modernization in East Asia Compared (II): The Second-Wave Modernization

    • Kim Kyong-Dong
    Pages 105-165

  5. The Aborted Confucian Reformation in Korea’s Embryonic Modernization: The Case of Chŏng Yag-yong (1762–1836)

    • Kim Kyong-Dong
    Pages 167-208

  6. Is Confucianism Still Relevant Today? Closing Reflections

    • Kim Kyong-Dong
    Pages 209-238

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 239-267
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Keywords

About this book

Spanning the 19th and 20th centuries and identifying multiple waves of modernization, this book illustrates how principles originating in Chinese Confucianism have impacted the modernization of East Asia, especially in Korea. It also analyzes how such principles are exercised at personal, interpersonal and organizational levels. As modernization unfolds in East Asia, there is a rising interest in tradition of Confucianism and reconsider the relevance of Confucianism to global development.   


This book considers the actual historical significance of Confucianism in the modernization of the three nations in this region, China, Korea, and Japan through the nineteenth century and early twentieth century to the aftermath of the end of World War II. Examining the existing literature dealing with how Confucianism has been viewed in connection with modernization, it provides insight into western attitudes towards Confucianism and the changes in perceptions relative to Asia in the very process of modernization itself. 




Reviews

“Kim’s book is a solid work that provides sound argumentation and abounds in important historical patterns that point to the recognition that Confucianism is, indeed, a major and lively religious and ethical tradition that is capable of operating efficiently behind the curtains in order to constantly form, inform, and reform societies that are facing the uncertainties of a modern(izing) world.” (Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 45 (2), June, 2019)

“This three-volume series is a magnificent synthesis of questions and debates over modernization, development and Confucianism in the context of Korea and East Asia. … In sum, the trilogy is a great accomplishment not only for the author, but also for the Korean sociological community, channeling their distinctive experience of modernization with global academia.” (Jaeyeol Yee, Development and Society, Vol. 46 (3), December, 2017)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Kim Kyong-Dong

About the author

Dr Kim Kyong-Dong is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Seoul National University, South Korea. The preeminent sociologist in Korea, he has devoted his career to analyzing and comparing "east" and "west" issues from a cultural perspective. After gaining his PhD at Cornell University in the US, Professor Kim was a visiting scholar in the US, Taiwan, France and a Fellow  at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington, DC, as well as President of the Korean Sociological Association. He has widely published in English, Korean, Japanese and French on issues of development and modernization, social change and industrialization, sociological theory, education and religion.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Confucianism and Modernization in East Asia

  • Book Subtitle: Critical Reflections

  • Authors: Kim Kyong-Dong

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3626-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-10-3625-5Published: 15 May 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-10-9924-3Published: 29 July 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-10-3626-2Published: 06 May 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIII, 267

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Non-Western Philosophy, Asian Culture, Cultural Studies, Asian Politics

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