Book Review

Korean Workers represents a seminal analysis of the forging of working-class identity and solidarity among South Korea's factory workforce from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. The book is particularly significant for the recognition it provides to the struggles of women factory workers in the textile and clothing industries in the 1960s and early 1970s. Following E.P. Thompson, Koo notes that class formation arises out of workers' lived experiences, though he also emphasises the influence of culture and political developments on relations at the point of production. For South Korean workers this included the significance of Korea's Confucian and patriarchal traditions and the role played by an authoritarian state. These forces not only assisted Korean capitalists to repress labour unrest, they also facilitated the forging of a collective consciousness of resistance among factory workers in response to the harsh and exploitative reality of factory life.	1
The central questions driving the book are: `What made South Korea's once docile labour force rapidly become a militant social force? What made South Korean workers far more successful than their counterparts elsewhere in East Asia developing a strong and aggressive labour movement?' (p. 3). These questions are particularly salient when the cultural and political constraints experienced by Korean workers are considered. Korean factory workers had no tradition of craft or artisan work to provide them with a positive self-image. On the contrary, artisans held a lowly position in the Confucian hierarchy while engaging in physically demanding factory work was looked down upon in Korean society. State propaganda on the other hand deemed these workers to be `industrial warriors' helping the nation win the war against foreign competition and assisting Korea to protect itself from the threat of North Korea. Class formation involved workers developing their own collective identity as workers, separate from both societal stereotypes and state-based propaganda.	2
In Chapter 3, Koo documents the depths of exploitation experienced by Korean workers during the initial decades of export-led industrialisation. There was a virtually unlimited supply of lowly-skilled workers from rural areas hoping to escape grinding poverty. Not only did these workers experience the stigma attached to factory work by the broader society, but also a patriarchal and authoritarian relationship to factory owners who regarded workers `... not as the sellers of their labor with their own contractual rights, but as children or as traditional servants' (p. 67). In addition, these workers experienced military-type workplace controls where employers demanded complete obedience to their instructions and instigated a regime of extremely long working hours, over 53 hours on average, throughout the 1980s, across all industries. Employers were able to maintain long working hours by paying low basic wages that required factory workers to undertake extensive overtime to earn a living wage to support themselves and their extended families.	3
The self-immolation of Chun Tae-Il in 1970 in protest over the poor working conditions experienced by female garment workers is portrayed in Chapter 4 as the origins of Korean workers' class formation. This extreme protest `... sowed the spirit of resistance and rebellion in the minds of millions of workers and provided a powerful symbol for the working class'. Women workers undertook independent union activity in the textile and footwear industries in the early 1970s. Koo demonstrates how the consciousness of these workers was developed through close association with church organisations. The role played by the Young Catholic Workers and the Protestant Urban Industrial Missions are portrayed as particularly significant. Both organisations realised that they needed to go beyond preaching the gospel to assist workers to improve their working conditions. To promote worker consciousness, church organisations fostered small-group meetings to enable workers to discuss their working lives and workplace problems. The emergence of workplace unionism in the 1970s, and a growing sense of class awareness and solidarity among female factory workers, is largely attributed to these small group activities.	4
Employers, however, attempted to undermine any attempts by women factory workers to form independent unions, or to reform state-controlled ones, by issuing threats, bribery, or by seeking the assistance of male workers and/or riot police. Thus a combination of workplace exploitation and extreme gender discrimination meant that the factory conditions experienced by women workers were far worse than those experienced by their male counterparts. Female factory workers were subject to verbal abuse, sexual harassment and were often beaten if they didn't behave in a submissive manner. Koo identifies these women workers as instigators of the process of class identity and solidarity among Korean industrial workers that ultimately led to the explosion of class formation among the male-dominated heavy industries in the 1980s.	5
Nevertheless, before that explosion could occur, Korean workers needed to develop a more positive image of themselves as workers. In Chapter 6, Koo highlights that ideologies of familism, nationalism and social harmony remained strongly ingrained. As the 1980s progressed, however, notions of democracy, justice and a separate working-class culture emerged, born out of increasing workplace struggles and continued opposition to the state. A growing acceptance by workers of their position in society also signified a growing disregard for societal stereotypes and an authoritarian state. Thus, Koo argues, the industrial structure, rising political opposition and an emerging working-class culture were significant in the growth of working-class solidarity throughout the 1980s. Rising opposition by students and the urban middle class and the potential for unrest among factory workers led to a transition towards democratic government in June 1987. Within weeks of this announcement workers rapidly mobilised across Korea and industrial conflict became widespread. Over 3,000 spontaneous strikes and workplace demonstrations occurred between June and September 1987. This was more than the number of industrial disputes that had occurred during the entire period of export-led industrialisation from the 1960s. The epicentre for such industrial unrest was the industrial city of Ulsan, home of numerous Hyundai subsidiaries, in particular the Hyundai Motor Company and the shipyards of Hyundai Heavy Industries. Industrial unrest and street demonstrations spread unrest to other industrial cities in the South such as Pusan, Changwon and Masan and to other chaebol workplaces.	6
This outpouring of industrial unrest by Korean workers was largely spontaneous and lacked central coordination or planning. The easing of authoritarian controls provided workers with the ability to express long-repressed grievances and demands for more humane treatment by factory management. Workers were also concerned to develop a viable and independent union organisation. One year after the `Great Worker Struggle' some 4,000 unions had been formed and approximately 700,000 workers had become union members. Nevertheless, Koo is highly critical of the historical revisionism that has emerged post-1987 which downplays the activism and sacrifices of women workers in the 1970s and the role that they played in forging working-class identity and consciousness. Overall, Koo highlights that the `Great Worker Struggle' facilitated a substantial growth in the solidarity of factory workers and provided them with a positive sense of their economic power. It also encouraged union organisation among white-collar workers in schools, banks, hospitals and the media.	7
The advances made by Korean workers from the late 1980s inevitably led to a backlash from employers keen to restore their workplace prerogatives that is explored in Chapter 8. This included an increased reliance on automation and subcontractors in heavy industries. It also involved the introduction of new human resource management strategies to dampen worker militancy. These practices included the promotion of corporate paternalism which included a relaxation of restrictions governing hair length and status distinctions in workplace restaurants. In addition, educational programs and recreational clubs were established, while factory workers became eligible for company-subsidised accommodation, the payment of school fees for their children and health insurance. Many employers also experimented with quality circles and team-working to maximise workforce commitment. Employers also restricted the power of workplace union leaders by bringing lawsuits against workers who organised `illegal' strikes. Koo maintains that the overall effect of these diverse strategies has been to weaken the solidarity and collective identity of Korean factory workers. He documents the experience of workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries, the vanguard of the Korean working class in the late 1980s, who he found had become more pragmatic, individualistic and selfish by the late 1990s in response to their exposure to a more middle-class lifestyle. On the whole, this is a work of painstaking scholarship which demonstrates considerable empathy towards the factory struggles and culture of Korean workers. It is highly recommended for all readers with an interest in social relations in Korea's factories and the fluid and dynamic nature of class identity and solidarity.	8
University of Canberra MICHAEL O'DONNELL

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