earticle

영어

“Globalization” is neither new nor ill-disposed to the authority of the nation-state. In South Korea, since the 1990s, it has become popular to think that the new age of globalization (segyehwa) has weakened the power of the state and forced national governmnents to hand over greater amounts of sovereignty to global markets. Such a view resonates with academic arguments that often use the concept of globalization to create the sense that the flow of capital across national borders is not only novel but also undermines the power of the nation-state. This paper argues against these views by showing the ways in which global capital created the conditions from which the modern nation-state and nationalism emerged in Japan and Korea. With Britain’s invasion of the Qing Dynasty, European capital and imperial policies began the gradual dismantling of the Chinese Empire’s East Asian interstate system. In its place emerged a new form of state power that was rooted in capitalist relations and legitimized by mythologies of the nation. From this conjuncture Meiji Japan was the first sovereign in East Asia to embrace the European structure of the nation-state and industrial capitalism. Japanese nation builders fashioned an image of the nation that was conducive to participating in the global system of capitalism. The emergent Japanese nation-state illustrates the role of nationalism in the spread of global capitalism in Asia during the nineteenth century. Meiji reformers adopted the structure to the nation-state to reorganize Japanese society, as well as Asian interstate relations, in terms of industrial capitalism. Central to this project was the colonization of Korea. By using the European model of imperialism, Meiji Japan redefined Korea as a nation and inspired a nationalist movement among reformers in Joseon society. Nationalism, and the national state, figured centrally in the processes of economic integration that is now known as globalization of East Asia.