Saemaul Undong Revisited: A Case of State–Society Dynamics in Social Capital Mobilisation, Focusing on the Role of Local Leaders in South Korea of the 1970s

Abstract

This study aims at a re-interpretation of the Saemaul Undong of the 1970s in South Korea. The study departs from the usual understanding of the 'Korean miracle' led by a strong state leadership, but emphasises the role of society, here represented by Saemaul Leaders as middle agents of change, and their roles of 'bonding' and 'linking' social capital, within and beyond communities. From this, communities are no longer simply recipients of, or followers to, the central leadership, but they turn out to be active participants and, in fact, leaders of rural community development.

Rural Business Hub: Framework for a New Rural Development Approach in Rain-Fed Areas of Pakistan—A Case of Punjab Province

“…The Korean model of the rural development (The New Village Movement program or Saemaul Undong [SMU]) has shown wonderful results and transformation of the economy. It took only less than 10 years to South Korea to transform its rural economy from primitive one to the modern one that generates better livelihoods for the farmers; it has recently become an inspiring development model for many developing countries in regard to poverty alleviation, especially for rural development (Doucette and Müller 2016; Yang, 2017).…”

The role of training in building awareness about formalin abuse: evidence from Bangladesh

“…The Imams may provide unique support to motivate fish traders to stop food adulteration. Similarly, community leaders are superior networkers who have the potential of motivating community members to achieve community goals (Yang, 2015). These leaders can disseminate messages on socioeconomic matters to their communities (Martin et al ., 2017).…”

Participation in development: Learning from the past and present in the Republic of Korea

“…The Government categorized villages into three categories, namely, basic, self-help, and self-reliant, according to a set criteria. More recent research finds that local leaders (then called Saemaul Leaders, officially acknowledged by the Government) deserve credit for successfully obtaining their fellow villagers' participation in the campaign (Han, 2010;Kim, 2009;Lee, 2013;Yang, 2015;Yoon, 2011). However, issues regarding the massive number of people who participated, and the nature and purpose of that participation -and consequently, its sustainability -remain subject to debate (see, for example, Han, 2004;Hwang, 2006;Hwang, 2011;Moore, 1985).…”

“…When asked how the Saemaul Undong was understood, most of the then local participant-interviewees mentioned villagers' free labour and mobilization for most so-called Saemaul projects, which were mainly of three types: (a) changing individual household living spaces, including roofs, walls, kitchens, and toilets, into more 3 This section is derived in part from an article published in Community Development Journal, published online: 11 July 2016, doi:10.1093/cdj/bsw023 (copyright Oxford University Press) (see Yang, 2016b). modern styles; (b) improving village infrastructure, such as roads, farm feeder roads, bridges and village halls; and (c) conducting various income-earning activities, including collecting grass and weeds and turning them into humus to be used to increase the output of agricultural products (mainly rice).…”

“…At the beginning of each interview, both the general managers in Seoul and in the Siem Reap offices quickly acknowledged that Project A was a failure, not only regarding its own set goals, but particularly in terms of the participatory approach. The project started without solid pre-planning, let alone a rigourous assessment of the village's needs, partly because the project was decided by a top-down approach, but 5 Unlike Village A, where old farmers (including interviewees and Saemaul participants) live mainly on subsistence farming (from Rijang Cho's account), the majority of villagers in Village B were still engaged in the greenhouse lettuce production at the time of author's visit and consequently, the village secured its position within the top deciles of high-income-earning villages from sales of the local products until today (Statistics Korea, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Survey 2009 Yang, 2016a). also because LW lacked the capacity to act as an implementing organization for a participatory approach, as the interviewees admitted.…”