North Korea's mundane revolution : socialist living and the rise of Kim Il Sung, 1953-1965 / Andre Schmid.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schmid, Andre, author.

Series:

Asia Pacific modern.

Asia Pacific modern ; v.19

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kim, Il-sŏng, 1912-1994--Political and social views.

Kim, Il-sŏng.

Social change--Korea (North)--Citizen participation--20th century.

Social change.

Korea (North)--Social life and customs--20th century.

Korea (North).

Korea (North)--Politics and government--1948-1994.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (381 pages).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2024]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

When the crucial years after the Korean War are remembered today, histories about North Korea largely recount a grand epic of revolution centering on the ascent of Kim Il Sung to absolute power. Often overshadowed in this storyline, however, are the myriad ways the Korean population participated in party-state projects to rebuild their lives and country after the devastation of the war. North Korea's Mundane Revolution traces the origins of the country's long-term durability in the questions that Korean women and men raised about the modern individual, housing, family life, and consumption. Using a wide range of overlooked sources, Andre Schmid examines the formation of a gendered socialist lifestyle in North Korea by focusing on the localized processes of socioeconomic and cultural change. This style of "New Living" replaced radical definitions of gender and class revolution with the politics of individual self-reform and cultural elevation, leading to a depoliticization of the country's political culture in the very years that Kim Il Sung rose to power.

Contents:

Introduction: North Korea's Mundane Revolution

1. The Anxieties of Socialist Transition

Flash of Criticism: Translating Mao Zedong's Contradictions

Part One. Cultural Living and the Ever-Striving Socialist Self

2. An Era of Advice

Flash of Criticism: Socialist Morality as Ruling-Class Ideology?

3. The Politics of Criticism and Dormitory Surveillance

Part Two. The Political Economy of Apartments

4. An Obsession with Efficiency

Flash of Criticism: The Perils of Material Incentives?

5. The Ideological Pivot

Part Three. Making Happy Family Homes

6. Supporting the Nuclear Family

7. The Politics of Unhappy Housewives

Flash of Criticism: A New Style of Husband?

Part Four. The Ambivalences of Consumption

8. Savings and Silences

9. Home Décor, Culturedness, and the Class Politics of Style

Flash of Criticism: Fetishizing Purses?

Conclusion: Looking Up at Comrade Kim

Appendix: An Essay on North Korean Print Media Sources.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780520392861

0520392868

OCLC:

1414467431