korea/japan

[rc-am]

important point, rakesh.  was the reserve maintained outside territorial
boundaries?  to some extent, most OECD countries maintained a reserve outside
in this way, as well as maintaining it in a muted way through 'guest work',
undocumented workers, etc. who are inside, but don't have citizenship rights.
japan also does this now, doesn't it?

if I recall, something like 100,000 koreans were repatriated to north korea
in 1959, but I don't have much info other than this.  when/what was the
'lewis turning point'?

Angela
---
rcollins at netlink.com.au

Rakesh wrote:


>To what extent can the  industrialisation of the NICS be understood as a
>consequence of Japan's emphasis on its perceived racial purity?
>As Sukhamoy Chakravarty muses:
>"Korea launched a strategy of export oriented industrialization from the
>mid-sixties onwards, when Japan had crossed the so called Lewis turning
>point in her economic development, making it necessary to obtain new
>sources of cheap labour. Given the character of Japanese society and its
>emphasis on racial purity, it was a much better option to forge new
>economic links with the Republic of Korea through subcontracting, etc.,
>than to encourage large scale labour immigration. This strategy also
>enabled the Korean economy to maintain a regime of excess demand, which
>could be met by an *import surplus*, which has persisted since the
>beginning of the sixties."
>Selected Economic Writings, p. 150
>
>At any rate, this does raise the question not only of the reasons for
>different immigration policies within the OECD but also the consequences
>these varying policies have had on capitalist dynamics.
>
>yours, rakesh
>
>