Paul Y. Chang's guest appearances

Paul Y. Chang

Korea and the World

Robert Kelly

Suki Kim

Hyeonseo Lee

Michael Park

David Sanger

James Turnbull

Mark Lippert

Geoffrey Cain

Alexis Dudden

Bonnie S. Glaser

Sue Mi Terry

Andrew Salmon

Daniel Tudor

John Delury

Elise Hu

OwlTail

The Korean family, how it functions and what it looks like, has fundamentally changed over the course of the past decades. The traditional extended family model has given way to the nuclear family and its variants; and Korean society has become more diverse with inter-ethnic marriages more common now than ever before. These changes are not only complex but also carry profound implications for the Korean society. To learn more about these societal dynamics, we met with Professor Paul Y. Chang. We talked about the demographic revolution that is currently taking place in Korea, how the government has tried to control the nation’s fertility rate since the middle of the 20th century and the challenges it now faces as a result of its past policies. Professor Paul Y. Chang is Associate Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He received his PhD in Sociology from Stanford University in 2008. Professor Chang has published several book chapters and articles in various academic journals, including Mobilization, Sociological Forum, Asian Perspectives and the Journal of Korean Studies. His current project focuses on the emergence of non-traditional family structures in South Korea, including single-parent households, single-person households, and multicultural families.

The Korean family, how it functions and what it looks like, has fundamentally changed over the course of the past decades. The traditional extended family model has given way to the nuclear family and its variants; and Korean society has become more diverse with inter-ethnic marriages more common now than ever before. These changes are not only complex but also carry profound implications for the Korean society. To learn more about these societal dynamics, we met with Professor Paul Y. Chang. We talked about the demographic revolution that is currently taking place in Korea, how the government has tried to control the nation’s fertility rate since the middle of the 20th century and the challenges it now faces as a result of its past policies. Professor Paul Y. Chang is Associate Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He received his PhD in Sociology from Stanford University in 2008. Professor Chang has published several book chapters and articles in various academic journals, including Mobilization, Sociological Forum, Asian Perspectives and the Journal of Korean Studies. His current project focuses on the emergence of non-traditional family structures in South Korea, including single-parent households, single-person households, and multicultural families.

#84 - Paul Y. Chang

South Korea’s path to democracy was long and arduous; as historian Bruce Cumings concluded, there “may be no country more deserving of democracy in our time than the Republic of Korea”. While many initially assumed Korea would transition towards a liberal democratic system following the end of Japanese colonialism, decades of authoritarianism and dictatorship ensued. Despite being founded as such in 1947, it is only four decades later that South Korea became a democracy in practice with the election of President Roh in December 1987. While the 1980s was the decade that saw democracy eventually triumph, the role played by pro-democracy movements in the 1970s has all too often been forgotten. Despite General Park Chung-hee iron fist rule, several social movements and constituencies – students, liberal church groups, unions, lawyers and journalists – structured and organized themselves during those years, paving the way for the major successes of the following decade. This is the core argument of Protest Dialectics: State Repression and South Korea’s Democracy Movement (Stanford University Press, 2015), written by Professor Paul Y. Chang, who kindly agreed to be our guest for this episode. Professor Chang is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He received his PhD in Sociology from Stanford University in 2008. He taught at Yonsei and Singapore Management University before joining the Harvard faculty in 2013. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Korea Institute at Harvard University and is affiliated with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Harvard Asia Center’s Council on Asian Studies. Professor Chang has published several book chapters and articles in various academic journals, including Mobilization, Sociological Forum, Asian Perspectives and the Journal of Korean Studies.

South Korea’s path to democracy was long and arduous; as historian Bruce Cumings concluded, there “may be no country more deserving of democracy in our time than the Republic of Korea”. While many initially assumed Korea would transition towards a liberal democratic system following the end of Japanese colonialism, decades of authoritarianism and dictatorship ensued. Despite being founded as such in 1947, it is only four decades later that South Korea became a democracy in practice with the election of President Roh in December 1987. While the 1980s was the decade that saw democracy eventually triumph, the role played by pro-democracy movements in the 1970s has all too often been forgotten. Despite General Park Chung-hee iron fist rule, several social movements and constituencies – students, liberal church groups, unions, lawyers and journalists – structured and organized themselves during those years, paving the way for the major successes of the following decade. This is the core argument of Protest Dialectics: State Repression and South Korea’s Democracy Movement (Stanford University Press, 2015), written by Professor Paul Y. Chang, who kindly agreed to be our guest for this episode. Professor Chang is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He received his PhD in Sociology from Stanford University in 2008. He taught at Yonsei and Singapore Management University before joining the Harvard faculty in 2013. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Korea Institute at Harvard University and is affiliated with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Harvard Asia Center’s Council on Asian Studies. Professor Chang has published several book chapters and articles in various academic journals, including Mobilization, Sociological Forum, Asian Perspectives and the Journal of Korean Studies.

#30 - Paul Y. Chang