Comments on: Manifesto from the Suyu Research Institute on the S.Korea-USA FTA plans – The Twilight of Empire?

By: The Korean Autonomist and Poststructuralist Left « Imperfect Composition

The Korean Autonomist and Poststructuralist Left « Imperfect Composition — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:05:50 +0000

[...] The Twilight of Empire was a manifesto put out by the Suyu folks around the time of the negotiation of the Korea-US free trade agreement and has political mix of tones from Agamben, Negri, and Deleuze to it. There is criticism of the sovereign exception used in Neoliberalism, and it endorses a political project of mobilizing the multitude, and of minorities widely construed, instead of left nationalism (the dominant left position in South Korea). Another problem with interpellating nation as the subject of struggle is that it may conceal the disastrous effects of the FTA that is “yet to come,” effects which diverse minority groups in our society are “already” experiencing. The U.S.-South Korea FTA, which seems to have taken us by surprise, has been tailing the young, the disabled, women, migrant workers, non-regular workers, and all the creatures of the tidal flats for a much longer time, under the guise of GDP, market competition, neo-liberalism, and the calculation of economic profits. We must realize that our society has encouraged or neglected the exploitation of these minorities. The unimaginable scale and intensity of disaster that the U.S.-South Korea FTA entails will be the messenger that will inform us that the pain of those minorities that we have overlooked can become our own. Hence, the struggle against the FTA should start not from the nation, but from the minorities, the masses, and the multitude. [...]

By: jomo

jomo — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:44:34 +0000

also, pak noja, i am curious to know where you disagree with this thesis.
seems like the game to play big powers off of one another has been a failed project for korea, and many smaller asian nations for that matter. would this be any different?

By: jomo

jomo — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:42:16 +0000

I am reading this post 2 years later — 2008. I am wondering how the new approach toward the 6 party talks by the Bush administration is changing the responses by anti-US South Korean activists. It seems this return to Clintonian “friendly” approach both toward China and NK is symbolic of some of the US’s own declining ability to threaten war in Asia. How has the SK progressive scene responded to this? Is there a sense that the liberal tendencies of NK issue is raising up the contradictions of different views toward capitalist among the Korean left?
Curious, thanks for the info regardless

By: lirelou

lirelou — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:44:34 +0000

Snow’s point is well taken. There are a variety of blogs offering Korean political opinion pieces. Why add another?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 14:47:26 +0000

Didn't think the article was advocating nationalism or isolationism Snow... Anyway, that aside, there was this article in the Korea Times last week that shows a bit of Roh's ambivalent approach to neoliberalism, or maybe an attempt by him to salvage a progessive image by pursuing neo-keynsian policies.