Description

South Korea has achieved remarkable economic growth in the late 20th century. The economic growth was made possible by Korea’s techno-scientific growth regime. Under this techno-scientific growth regime, sciences and technologies are expected to serve only as a means of economic growth. Technocratic policymaking not allowing any meaningful public participation is a distinguishing feature of this growth regime. In this sense the techno-scientific growth regime can be characterized by its economism and elitism.
This techno-scientific growth regime did not receive any serious challenges from civil society under the military government. Military-political regime, not techno-scientific growth regime, was the main target. However, with the political democratization of the early 1990s, various social movement agendas to democratize economy and society began to appear, including democratization of science and technology. The purpose of this talk is to introduce the democratization movements in Korean science and technology and then to evaluate their contributions and limitations.

—
Young Hee Lee is Professor in the Department of Sociology at The Catholic University of Korea. Professor Lee is currently a Visiting Scholar at UC San Diego, U.S. He received his PhD in Sociology from Yonsei University in 1994. His research interests include Science, Technology and Society (STS), technology and work, and public participation in techno-scientific and environmental decision making. He has been actively involved in the “democratization of science and technology” movement in Korea since 1997, when he founded the Centre for Democracy in Science and Technology with his colleagues, a civil organization focusing on socio-political issues around science and technology policy. His books include Fordism and Post-Fordism: Hyundai, Toyota and Volvo (1994), Towards a Reflexive Sociology of Science and Technology (2000), Public Participation in Science, Technology and Environment (2002).