Colonial Modernity and Rural Markets during the Japanese Colonial Period

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Colonial Modernity and Rural Markets during the Japanese Colonial Period

Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2010, Vol 15, Issue 2

Abstract

Recent studies on Korean history during the Japanese colonial period have in general focused on ‘colonial modernity’ as their main theme. They have sought to analyze the characteristics of the modernity which Korea experienced, while paying special attention to the fact that while modernity should not be ignored, colonial rule should be perceived as having been a condition that contributed to the formation and reproduction of modernity; and that modernity, which was carried out at the global level, was variously and heteronomously experienced in individual regions. This fresh perception of colonial modernity has helped to bring about a meaningful change in the heretofore nationalism-centered study of the colonial era. Nevertheless, a great number of these analyses of modern elements have tended to concentrate on two spheres: industry and urban areas. To this end, although agriculture and rural areas accounted for a significant majority of industry and the overall population respectively, these elements were not identified as being crucial to the formation of the proper interpretation of colonial modernity. The study of the elements of the traditional lifestyle of farmers that were passed down from generation to generation is indeed a more simple one than the analysis of the new elements that were introduced. However, the rural markets, or changsi, which connected farmers to the external world, clearly exhibit the hybridity that characterized their lives during the colonial era. Colonial capitalism had the effect of worsening the conflicts between capitalists and laborers, as well as between landlords and farmers. However, the necessity to defend the nation against Japan’s dictatorial rule also had the effect of mitigating the inherent hierarchal differences between the various social groups. This hybridity was also reflected in the changsi markets that operated in rural areas. The commercialization of agriculture and the agricultural policy of the Government-General of Chos?n had the effect of further exasperating the already dire situation which farmers faced. The direness of this situation forced many small-scale farmers to try to eke out a living by selling their agricultural wares at lower than market value prices. In this regard, the changsi emerged as the main sphere in which such exchanges designed to ensure farmers’ ability to continue to earn a living were carried out. The expansion of the changsi during the Japanese colonial period was motivated by the following factors. First, under the colonial capitalist structure, farmers needed the changsi, which they could freely enter, to maintain their small-scale farming household economies. Second, the changsi in rural areas functioned as networking markets that effectively connected these rural areas to the global market. The changsi played an important role in terms of the collection and exporting of the agricultural products and raw materials demanded by Japanese capitalism, but also functioned as windows for the distribution and sale of capitalist goods. Third, the changsi was a socio-cultural hybrid space in which Koreans, who were prohibited from participating in politics, could release their pent-up energy. To this end, the changsi conflicts reflected not only the confrontations and fissures that crisscrossed local society, but also the inherent politics of coexistence and alliance. Fourth, the changsi, in their capacity as a basic trading mechanism, served as collective goods which contributed to the activation of local economies. Furthermore, additional local development effects could be expected through the advent of other collective goods, such as financial institutions, agricultural product inspection centers and agricultural product stores, and means of transportation. In this regard, local residents, or simin, sought to attract changsi to their areas as part of efforts to ensure local development and reap the benefits of such development. This can be regarded as one of the key reasons for the expansion of the changsi during the Japanese colonial era. The changsi conflicts over public goods that emerged during the 1920s -1930s nevertheless exhibited various attributes generally associated with conflicts between the power group and local society. While these conflicts were ostensibly not related to the refusal of the colonial authority’s control and regulations, one can nevertheless imagine ‘local society’ as a social space in which competition with the colonial power was made possible by the fact that the unilateral leadership of the colonial authority proved unable to penetrate this particular space. In addition, the hybridity created through the combination of traditional communality, reciprocity, equality, local chauvinism, desire for development/improvement, and the pursuit of capital gains, can be regarded as a reflection of the impact of colonial modernity on rural markets.

Authors and Affiliations

Young-ran Hur

Keywords

colonial modernity modernity rural markets changsi fiveday market changsi conflicts collective goods simin (citizens)

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