"This book problematises the statist underpinnings of the concept of the 'developmental state,' both in terms of state-society and national-global relations, challenging the notion that the state is the agent of national development qua being autonomous from the domestic and global economies....

"This book explains why the Korean welfare state is underdeveloped despite successful industrialization, democratization, a militant labor movement, and a centralized meritocracy. Unlike most social science books on Korea, which tend to focus on its developmental state and past years' rapid...

"Korea's experience of rapid economic growth represents both hope and challenge to many developing countries. The conventional wisdom inside and outside Korea has been that the government's policies such as export promotion, industrial targeting, etc. were the driving forces. This book...