Rethinking the new beginning of the democratic union movement in Korea: from the 1987 Great Workers' Struggle to the construction of the Korean Trade Union Council ( Chunnohyup ) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)

Abstract

It is sometimes taken for granted too readily that the concept of ‘diaspora’ is deconstructive of nations and nation-states. This essay makes a case for a more complicated understanding of the concept. Diaporic consciousness provides fertile grounds for nurturing cultural nationalism. Its relationship to the nation-state is also highly problematic.Where the nation of departure is privileged over the nation of arrival, such a consciousness may serve to extend the power of the nation-state of origin globally, beyond national boundaries. The opposite may also be the case, as when diasporic populations are manipulated by the nation-state at the point of arrival to influence relations between the two states that such populations bridge. The concept needs to be approached more critically, not only for political reasons but also for more precise understanding of the politics as well as of the social and cultural dynamics of human motions.