We are pleased to announce a new session in the regular open seminar series hosted by the Political Economy Team of Seoul National University’s Center for Contemporary Korean Studies.

For this seminar, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Jamie Doucette, author of The Postdevelopmental State, recently published by University of Michigan Press and winner of the 2025 AKSE Book Prize. The seminar will examine the structural transformation of Korea’s political economy and the significance of the project of “economic democratization.”

Korea has moved beyond the developmental state model that drove its rapid economic growth and has entered a new phase marked by deepening inequality alongside economic and political instability. In this presentation, Dr. Jamie Doucette will revisit the concept of the developmental state through the lens of economic democratization and reflect on how we might understand the structural transformation of Korea’s political economy today.

Speaker: Dr. Jamie Doucette, University of Manchester
Title: “The Postdevelopmental State: Dilemmas of Economic Democratization in Contemporary South Korea”

Date and Time: Friday, July 18, 2025, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room, College of Social Sciences, Seoul National University, Room 312, Building 16
Format: Hybrid, in person and via Zoom / English
Zoom Link: https://snu-ac-kr.zoom.us/j/87832104705?pwd=0fAb5jRYBCmgbeALvRCOirzHDAtbSC.1
Meeting ID: 878 3210 4705
Passcode: 970554

The lecture will primarily be held in person, but online participation via Zoom will also be available.

We look forward to your interest and participation.

Thank you.

Political Economy Team
Center for Contemporary Korean Studies
Seoul National University

For inquiries, please contact: namkungaya@snu.ac.kr