The Warrior Worker (review)

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS1 1 9 No book, however, is totally without faults, and this present volume contains a few minor flaws, such as the absence of any references for the interesting discussion of yuhak (p. 90), and the somewhat outmoded use of the royal surname Yi instead of the dynastic name of Chosön. Of more significance, perhaps, is the treatment of factionalism. Haboush contends that factionalism has been overrated as a debilitating factor in Chosön political history (pp. 118-119). I am sympathetic but not totally convinced, because factional interests apparently played the central role in perpetuating the suspicion of regicide that clouded Yöngjo's reign and ultimately led to the tragic split between him and his son (pp. 124, 161-65). Finally, as I finished the book, I could not help but wish that Haboush had chosen to use her understanding of Confucian politics and her findings about Yöngjo and his reign to shed light on some of the major historiographical issues of the late Chosön, such as the significance of Yöngjo's reign— and particularly his policy of impartiality (t'angp'yöng eh 'aek)—in the transition from the factional politics of the seventeenth century to the royal-in-law politics (sedo chöngeh 'i) of the nineteenth century. These misgivings notwithstanding, this is a well-researched and well-written book that contributes much to our understanding of both Confucian politics in general and late Chosön court politics in particular. This is the sort of case study of which we need more to build the field of Korean history in the West. I, for one, look forward to Haboush's next contribution. John B. Duncan University of California at Los Angeles The Warrior Worker, by Robert Kearney. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1991. viii + 276 pp. $24.95. At first glance, The Warrior Worker seems like one of those books likely to be found in an airport newsstand—a catchy title, a trendy topic, a style tailored not so much for scholars as for people interested in light yet provocative reading. At the same time, this book, ostensibly about the Korean workforce, is a welcome addition to the growing literature on social and economic change in Korea. But while it demonstrates Kearney's substantial skills as a writer, it falls short on at least three counts. First, it lacks a clear theoretical perspective. Second, the data offered in support of the principal arguments are weak. Third, the broad approach, generalizations, and conclusions suggest the need for reexamination and further discussion of the subject matter. Kearney suggests that Korea's extraordinary economic success is not only a function of military organization and culture, but also "a complex of ancient values and modern history, of management strategies and individual leadership . . . which have created workers—white- and blue-collar alike—who are driven, yet docile, ambitious and afraid, smart but willing to take orders" (p. 14). What proceeds is a watered-down political and economic analysis that makes virtually 120BOOK REVIEWS no reference to established theory or scholarly research. The book has a journalistic quality—making it both highly readable and somewhat superficial in terms of theory and analysis. The initial chapters raise provocative questions regarding the relationships between an authoritarian government and Korea's unique brand of industrial development. Unfortunately, many of the really interesting questions are not directly addressed. At times, the book reads as if it were a Studs Terkel work on Korea. At other times, it reads like a CEO profile lifted from Fortune. In part because the work lacks a strong theoretical underpinning, much of its data and information are neither new nor particularly compelling. The presence of statistics on the quality of life in Korea which are more than ten years old, including the number of automobiles in 1980 (p. 30), suggest that the author could have been more assiduous in his data collecting—or perhaps he hasn't recently experienced one of Seoul's horrendous traffic jams. His observations on the girls teeing up balls at driving ranges (p. 72) are also quite dated. One has to wonder why he has included data on the structure...