North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics (asia/pacific/perspectives)
by Heonik Kwon /
2012 / English / PDF, EPUB
6.8 MB Download
This timely, pathbreaking study of North Korea’s
political history and culture sheds invaluable light on the
country’s unique leadership continuity and succession. Leading
scholars Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung begin by tracing Kim Il
Sung’s rise to power during the Cold War. They show how his
successor, his eldest son, Kim Jong Il, sponsored the production of
revolutionary art to unleash a public political culture that would
consolidate Kim’s charismatic power and his own hereditary
authority. The result was the birth of a powerful modern theater
state that sustains North Korean leaders’ sovereignty now to a
third generation. In defiance of the instability to which so many
revolutionary states eventually succumb, the durability of
charismatic politics in North Korea defines its exceptional place
in modern history.
This timely, pathbreaking study of North Korea’s
political history and culture sheds invaluable light on the
country’s unique leadership continuity and succession. Leading
scholars Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung begin by tracing Kim Il
Sung’s rise to power during the Cold War. They show how his
successor, his eldest son, Kim Jong Il, sponsored the production of
revolutionary art to unleash a public political culture that would
consolidate Kim’s charismatic power and his own hereditary
authority. The result was the birth of a powerful modern theater
state that sustains North Korean leaders’ sovereignty now to a
third generation. In defiance of the instability to which so many
revolutionary states eventually succumb, the durability of
charismatic politics in North Korea defines its exceptional place
in modern history.Kwon and Chung make an innovative contribution to
comparative socialism and postsocialism as well as to the
anthropology of the state. Their pioneering work is essential for
all readers interested in understanding North Korea’s past and
future, the destiny of charismatic power in modern politics, the
role of art in enabling this power.
Kwon and Chung make an innovative contribution to
comparative socialism and postsocialism as well as to the
anthropology of the state. Their pioneering work is essential for
all readers interested in understanding North Korea’s past and
future, the destiny of charismatic power in modern politics, the
role of art in enabling this power.
