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Youngeun Koo. Photo.

Youngeun Koo

Associate senior lecturer

Youngeun Koo. Photo.

The Paradoxical Development of Liberal Governance : International Adoption Policy and Professional Social Work in Authoritarian South Korea, 1953–1976

Author

  • Youngeun Koo

Summary, in English

This article explores the development of international adoption policy in post-liberation South Korea, emphasizing the roles of American and Korean professional social workers. By analyzing the orphan registry and a pivotal international adoption law, it reveals how international adoption in South Korea presents a unique opportunity to observe the formation of modern social policy in a newly liberated nation during the Cold War. The study argues that adoption policy served as a crucial locus of transnational governance, where American and Korean social workers pursued their liberal ideals of professional social work within the context of the authoritarian policies of the South Korean state. However, their quest for scientific professionalism, standardized procedures, and public oversight led to a paradoxical evolution of adoption policy, diverging sharply from the trajectory seen in Western liberal democracies where social work significantly contributed to the consolidation and expansion of the welfare state. In South Korea, embedded transnationality and ideological mismatch resulted in the state’s further withdrawal and the creation of policy workarounds that undermined the core social work principle of the child’s best interests. This case highlights the complexities and blurred moral boundaries in the shaping of modern governance and the broader journey toward modernity under postcolonial, Cold War conditions.

Department/s

  • Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Publication/Series

Journal of Social History

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Topic

  • Political Science
  • Other Humanities not elsewhere specified
  • Other Social Sciences

Status

Epub

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1527-1897