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The London School of Economics and Political Science The Politics of Struggle in a State–Civil Society Partnership: A Case Study of a South Korean Workfare Partnership Programme Suyoung Kim A thesis submitted to the Department of Social Policy of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, June 2011 1 Declaration of Authorship I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. (Some items have been removed from this electronic version of the thesis as the copyrights are owned by other organisations.) Suyoung Kim June 2011 2 Acknowledgements In the course of writing this thesis, I have had the privilege of receiving help from a legion of people. At the top of the list stands my most sincere gratitude to my academic supervisor, Professor Hartley Dean, who guided the whole journey of my research with his extensive theoretical knowledge and professional experiences in welfare rights field. Without his teaching, patience, and encouragement, I would not have been able to complete all this research. I am also very much indebted to my secondary supervisor, Dr. Bingqin Li for her academic advice and emotional support. It was my honour to have such great supervisors at LSE. Thanks are also due to Professor Julian Le Grand and Professor Jude Howell. They kindly provided me with many valuable comments on my research project as my major review examiners. I am also grateful to research student tutors Professor Anne West and Professor Jane Lewis, whose opinions and suggestions during my research presentations contributed to making my argument clearer and more convincing. Most of all, I would like to express my gratitude to two examiners of my thesis, Professor David Lewis at LSE and Dr. Greg Marston at the University of Queensland, for their rendering precious comments and advices to elaborate and polish my work at the last stage of the thesis. My grateful acknowledgements are also due to Professor Sang-Kyun Kim, Professor Tae-Sung Kim, Professor Sang-Hoon Ahn, Professor In-Hoe Ku, Professor Bong-Ju Lee at Seoul National University since my academic knowledge and ideas are founded on their teaching. I am sincerely grateful to the Sumsung Scholarship, the Rotary Foundation, and the LSE, which granted me financial support. Without their scholarships, this thesis could not have seen the light. I cannot omit thanking the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), directed by Professor John Hills. It has offered me a privileged academic environment and resources. Particularly, I wish to thank my PhD colleagues at CASE including Sarah, Yuka, Kenia, Ludovica, Ben and Rod for their companionship. Thanks are also due to Dr. Markus Ketola, who had carried out similar research in non-western civil society. His information and knowledge were a great stimulant to my work. Special thanks go to my Korean friends in London, Jungyoon, Miran, Soowan, Suna and Hyunseok for their support and friendship. Also, I owe much to Dr. Hyangsuk Kim for her kind assistance and mentoring and to Dr. David Jobanputra for his help with proofreading. My wholehearted thanks also go to my spiritual brothers and sisters of the God’s Vision Church and the London City Korean Church. Fellowship with Pastor Youngju, Pastor Youngjin, Missionary Hyeran, Jeongmin, Sunghwa, Heekyeong, Hanna, Juhong, and Enhyun constitute the happiest moments of my life in London. As always, my deepest love and gratitude are given to my family. My parents, younger sister, and older brother have encouraged and brought cheers to me from the first to the last moments of this journey. Finally, I would like to dedicate my thesis to the glorious God, who has been guiding my research and life from the beginning to the end. 3 Abstract This research investigates the dynamics of the on-going conflict in the state–civil society partnership in South Korea. In recent decades, partnership has become a central strategy for welfare provision worldwide. In accordance with this trend, the Korean government has invited numerous civil society organisations to become local welfare agencies. The workfare programme (called the SSP) is a typical example of such partnerships. Because a large number of anti-poverty organisations have become frontline SSP Centres, the SSP is widely regarded as an icon of participatory welfare. However, contrary to the ideals of democratic governance, some critical studies have argued that collaboration with the state can render civil society agencies susceptible to state demands, gradually undermining their role as advocates for disadvantaged people. In light of such claims, this study has explored the actual politics of the SSP partnership by: 1) analysing policy documents; 2) conducting interviews with 42 actors in the SSP system; and 3) observing a Centre. This research confirms that partnership does not always guarantee a democratic relationship. SSP Centres have gradually been subjected to state intervention, and their open confrontation with the state has evidently abated. Yet SSP Centres have not completely lost their autonomy and spirit of resistance: rather, they have adopted informal and unofficial forms of resistance while maintaining apparent conformity with the state. These street-level activities constitute SSP Centres’ emancipatory role in defending the life-world of poor people against the capitalist state. The implication of this study for the politics of partnership is that current forms of state–civil society partnership need not entail the ‘mutual coproduction’ or the ‘complete co-option’ of civil society to the state. Partnership can be a site of ‘complex struggles’ where civil society actors continue to counteract the control of the dominant system in inflected ways. 4 Table of Contents Declaration of Authorship............................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Illustration ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 Romanisation of Korean ............................................................................................................................... 11 Abbreviations................................................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 14 1.1 Statement of the Research ........................................................................................................................................... 14 1.11 Research Subject: State–Civil Society Partnership ............................................................................................ 14 1.12 Motivations of the Research: Challenge to Independent Civil Society ................................................................ 17 1.13 Purposes of the Research: Rethinking Civil Society in Partnership .................................................................... 20 1.14 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 22 1.2 Overview of the Research Design................................................................................................................................. 22 1.21 Analytical Framework ....................................................................................................................................... 22 1.22 Methodological Framework .............................................................................................................................. 23 1.3. Brief Summary of Findings .......................................................................................................................................... 24 1.4 Outline of the Thesis Structure ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2 State–Civil Society Relationships in Korean Social Welfare System ......................................... 27 2.1 Introductory Statement ................................................................................................................................................. 27 2.2 The State–Civil

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