University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Agriculture And Development In An Age Of Empire: Institutions, Associations, And Market Networks In Korea, 1876-1945 Holly Stephens University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian History Commons, and the Economic History Commons Recommended Citation Stephens, Holly, "Agriculture And Development In An Age Of Empire: Institutions, Associations, And Market Networks In Korea, 1876-1945" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2593. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2593 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2593 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Agriculture And Development In An Age Of Empire: Institutions, Associations, And Market Networks In Korea, 1876-1945 Abstract From the late nineteenth century, successive periods of domestic reform (1860s–1910) and Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945) fundamentally altered the relationship between the Korean state, the population, and the economy. Through a focus on agriculture—the largest industry at the time—this dissertation examines multiple efforts to reorient agricultural production to meet new expectations of the rural economy. In particular, this dissertation focuses on the expansion of the state through a series of semi-governmental organizations—known as associations (Ko. chohap; Ja. kumiai)—which mediated interaction between farmers, government officials, and local and international markets. In the process, the associations not only introduced new agricultural technologies and reordered trading relationships but also influenced the ways in which farmers produced for the market, be it through the enforcement of quality standards on farmers’ crops or the issuing of loans against future production. This dissertation uses a wide range of primary sources written in Korean, Japanese, and Classical Chinese—from official government publications to local organizational records and previously unexamined farmers diaries—to detail the varied ways in which government officials and rural residents alike projected onto the work of the new associations their own visions of what constituted development within the rural economy. Chapter One examines the changing significance of the economy ot the Korean government in the late nineteenth century. Chapter Two uses the diary of a single farmer to explore in-depth his economic worldview and the factors he considered important in his everyday life. Chapter Three traces colonial agricultural policies toward rice and cotton, and the government’s reliance upon semi-governmental organizations to implement its major policies. Chapter Four examines the activities of the new associations in the context of existing agricultural organizations, and Chapter Five questions the ideas of development that underpinned both Korean and colonial efforts to reform the rural economy. Overall, this dissertation places the semi-governmental organizations at the heart of a new rural economic order. Though established under colonial rule, the activities of the associations fit within a broader history of rural economic organization which shaped farmers’ interactions with the associations beyond their immediate political objectives. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group History First Advisor Eugene Y. Park Keywords agriculture, colonial, diary, Korea, organization Subject Categories Asian History | Economic History | History This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2593 AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT IN AN AGE OF EMPIRE: INSTITUTIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND MARKET NETWORKS IN KOREA, 1876–1945 Holly Stephens A DISSERTATION in History Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Supervisor of Dissertation ___________________________ Eugene Y. Park, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History Graduate Group Chairperson ___________________________ Peter Holquist, Associate Professor of History Dissertation Committee Eugene Y. Park, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History Frederick R. Dickinson, Professor of History Walter Licht, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT IN AN AGE OF EMPIRE: INSTITUTIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND MARKET NETWORKS IN KOREA, 1876–1945 COPYRIGHT 2017 Holly Jane Stephens iii To Kata, who does not know what this is iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the product of many years’ work, made possible only through the support and collaboration of many friends and colleagues. First and foremost, I thank Eugene Y. Park, my graduate advisor at the University of Pennsylvania, whose innumerable lessons on Korean history, and what it means to be a historian of Korea, have extended well beyond the classroom. I relied upon Professor Park’s knowledge and advice in all aspects of preparing this dissertation, from early ideas expressed in graduate seminars, to managing fieldwork, to his encouragement and critical feedback throughout the writing process. Many other professors helped to make this dissertation possible. Frederick Dickinson’s openness and enthusiasm for a global perspective on East Asian history pushed me to ask new questions of Korean history. I also benefited greatly from observing his expertise as a teacher and educator. Walter Licht has been a model of intellectual generosity throughout my time at Penn. I thank Professor Licht for many an enlightening discussion on economic history and his invaluable comments on my dissertation. Among many others at Penn, I thank Haewon Cho, Ann Farnsworth, Siyen Fei, and Victor Mair in particular for letting me audit classes, contributing toward my general exams, and otherwise encouraging my research. I am also grateful to Brian Vivier and Molly Des Jardin for their enthusiastic support from Van Pelt, not least in their willingness to accommodate the Chosŏn Sources Reading Group. Throughout my research, I benefitted from the funding and support of numerous agencies. At the University of Pennsylvania, I thank the Annenberg History endowment, v the Faye Rattner Research Fund, the James Joo Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies, and the Teece Family Foundation Fellowship for supporting multiple research trips to Korea and Japan. I am also grateful for the support of the History Project, at the Center for History and Economics, Harvard University, and the Social Science Research Council, for funding a year of dissertation research. I also thank the staff and professors at the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture, Harvard University, and the Institute of Korean Studies, Yonsei University, for hosting me during my research year. I am additionally grateful to all the professors who generously shared their time and expertise with me during my field research. In particular, I thank Carter Eckert and Sun Joo Kim for their insightful comments and questions; Hong Sung-chan and Woo Dae Hyung for introducing me to their research community; Kim P’iltong and Kim Hyunsook generously shared their knowledge of primary sources and local history with me, as did Ham Han Hee, Hur Young-ran, and Lee Kyung-Ran—thank you all. Michael Kim deserves additional credit, for not only supporting my field research at Yonsei but for first introducing me to Korean History as a student at the Graduate School of International Studies. Good friends and colleagues made graduate school significantly more enjoyable. Jamyung Choi, Jooyeon Hahm, Robert Hegwood, and Seok Lee were welcome classmates and fellow Asianists. At Penn I have been lucky enough to call non- Koreanists friends as well. Beeta Baghoolizadeh, Jacob Feygin, Salar Mohandesi, Anthony Pratcher, Kelsey Rice, Janine van Vliet and Kevin Waite—I hope to see you all again soon. I thank Tim Clifford, Alex Martin, Sixiang Wang, and Yoo Hyun Jae for sharing their knowledge of Classical Chinese in the Chosŏn Sources Reading Group in vi addition to their friendship. I have also been lucky enough to find good conversation and advice in Luis Botella, Javier Cha, Sakura Christmas, Maura Dykstra, David Fedman, Jaehyang Han, Jean Hyun, and Nicolas Marceau. Special mention must also go to a veritable army of cat sitters, who made it possible to carry out dissertation research and even have the occasional holiday while also raising a small furry creature. My sincere gratitude goes, in no particular order, to Kristian Taketomo, Mijeong Jo, Jamyung Choi, Jacob Feygin, Colin McGrath, Janine van Vliet, Jared Redmond, Cayce Hook, Josef Nothmann, Kevin Waite, Angie and Chris Ahn, Yuting Dong, Graeme Reynolds, Elizabeth Lord, Brian Landor, Adrienne Fitzgerald, Eric Schluessel, Sakura Christmas, Nicolas Marceau, and Kelsey Rice. Last but not least, though geographically far away, I am fortunate to say that my family were always there. I thank my parents for never batting an eyelid when I told them what I wanted to do, and where I was going next—your support has made this possible. And I thank John Lee, my partner in every sense of the word, and his family, whose warmth and kindness has made me feel at home in both the United States and Korea. vii ABSTRACT AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT IN AN AGE OF EMPIRE: INSTITUTIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND MARKET NETWORKS IN KOREA, 1876–1945 Holly Stephens Eugene Y.