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Jamie Doucette

@jamiedoucette.bsky.social

2.9K followers 1.2K following 340 posts

Reader in Human Geography @ University of Manchester. Author of The Postdevelopmental State: Dilemmas of Economic Democratization in Contemporary South Korea (Michigan: 2024, OA). Co-Editor: Developmentalist Cities? (Brill/Haymarket 2019). North sea surfer

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · Nov 14

It came out in late September, but since I've been off twitter for over a year, I thought I'd announce my new book here. It is also open access so available for free.

The Postdevelopmental State

Over the last 25 years, South Korea has witnessed growing inequality due to the proliferation of non-standard employment, ballooning household debt, deepening export-dependency, and the growth of supe...

press.umich.edu

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 6d

Some here might be interested in the following talk by Professor Chang Kyung-Sup’s for The Korea Society on his book The Risk of Compressed Modernity, Oct 8th, 2025 (21:00 pm in Korea / 8:00 am in US EST)

Korea's Compressed Modernity and Its Risks

Promoting understanding & cooperation between the U.S. & Korea, The Korea Society offers programs, events, & resources on Korean culture, policy & education

www.koreasociety.org

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 7d

IMO the Yellow Envelope law, restructuring of the prosecution service, and removal of budget drafting power from the finance ministry are three of the most interesting departures of the Lee administration from business as usual. It will be important to see how all three play out.

[News analysis] Goodbye to Korea’s prosecution service, a scandal-ridden tool of political retaliation

In September 2026, two new agencies will be created to take the place of the current prosecution service, separating powers of indictment and investigation in an effort to prevent abuse of power for r...

english.hani.co.kr

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 14d

Good piece by NYT’s long serving lead Korea reporter Choe Sang-Hun on the Korean workers detained by Trumps ice raid.

‘America Is Not a Safe Place to Work’: Koreans Describe Georgia Raid

www.nytimes.com

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 16d

Congrats!

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 18d

Excellent long read by @koryodynasty.bsky.social in the Guardian. Definitely worth your time this weekend.

‘Men don’t know why they became unhappy’: the toxic gender war dividing South Korea

Toxic masculinity is a global phenomenon, but nowhere is it more virulent than in this hypermodern, connected society. What can other countries learn from this ‘ground zero’ of misogyny?

www.theguardian.com

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 19d

There's a map in our article linked above of some of the newer, never quite actualized, #cryptocurrency and #blockchain zones not mentioned here....

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 19d

I imagine there are similar stories in many of the other SEZs that crypto players have made into 'safe spaces' to try out deregulation. Since Trump 2.0 I have the feeling that the zone imaginary is less potent. Or, rather, it is national territory that they seek to enact zone-like policies within.

Safe Space: A Guide to Special Economic Zones for Crypto, From China to Switzerland

Russia may join a list of countries with an offshore crypto zone with a plan to build its own on an island.

cointelegraph.com

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 19d

Thus, what is the 'model' being packaged here? Is it a story of ambition, failure, or simply minor tech experimentation in a local economy struggling to attract financial industries and investment away from Seoul (where much of the VC investment and speculative investment takes place).

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 19d

When really all there is here are some small pilot projects and an attempt to sell tokenized commodities, in contrast to Busan's original speculative fever dream of becoming a hub for cryptocurrencies: as witnessed by its failed MOU's with FTX (weeks b4 Sam Bankman-Fried's arrest), Binance, Huobi.

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 19d

Looks like Busan's 'blockchain city' ambitions have now become a 'model' to be shared. At the same time the timeline of when those ambitions materialize (and, indeed, a vision of what exactly they will be) continues to be extended into the future. But how does one share 'ambitions'?

Busan expands global blockchain city initiative with Cambodia - The Korea Times

Busan Digital Asset Nexus (Bdan), Korea’s only exchange dedicated to real-world assets (RWA), signed a memorandum of understanding with the Securit...

www.koreatimes.co.kr

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 21d

To add one small tangent. I had long been wanting to use this Cold War/developmentalist propaganda poster in a publication and was glad to finally get the opportunity here.

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 21d

We situate this concept and these struggles in relation to recent, and quite heated, methodological and conceptual debates about the nature of contemporary urbanization. Enjoy! It's Open Access FYI 3/4

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 21d

... discussion of anti-communism, construction statistics, and intersection between apartment building and Korea's development cooperation. The article really gets into the politics of development on Seoul's greenbelt through a reading of the 'construction state' and the struggles against it. 2/4

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 21d

It was a pleasure to sit in the passenger seat with Laam Hae's driving on the long journey that became this article. It's focused on her extensive work on the topic here, but I had some modest input with the theoretical framing.... 1/4

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 22d

“There is a consistent effort to create the appearance of grassroots support,” Clifton noted, “spinning up groups to make it look like there's grassroots support for hard-line policies,” although these groups are actually funded by a few wealthy people.

The woman profiting from spreading anti-China, election fraud conspiracy theories

A number of organizations that have fanned conspiracies about Chinese election meddling in Korea can be tied to a woman who lives in Hawaii

english.hani.co.kr

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 24d

Lots of details in this story of poor treatment and conditions. What a great way to attract investment.

Dr. Mark P. Barry ☯︎ @drmarkpbarry.bsky.social · 24d

A US detention diary written with anger... B1 visa workers mocked as "North Korea" | Yonhap News www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR2025...

분노로 쓴 美구금일지…B1비자 근로자에 "노스코리아" 조롱도 | 연합뉴스

(서울=연합뉴스) 박영서 이동환 김준태 기자 = 미국 조지아주 배터리 공장 건설 현장에서 일하다 7일간 구금된 근로자들에게 '인권'은 실종된 단...

www.yna.co.kr

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Reposted by Jamie Doucette

Dr. Mark P. Barry ☯︎ @drmarkpbarry.bsky.social · 24d

A US detention diary written with anger... B1 visa workers mocked as "North Korea" | Yonhap News www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR2025...

분노로 쓴 美구금일지…B1비자 근로자에 "노스코리아" 조롱도 | 연합뉴스

(서울=연합뉴스) 박영서 이동환 김준태 기자 = 미국 조지아주 배터리 공장 건설 현장에서 일하다 7일간 구금된 근로자들에게 '인권'은 실종된 단...

www.yna.co.kr

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 27d

the event is a many headed hydra, isn't it

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 27d

Yeah. its a good question. The reports say 300 were supposed to go back but it said 500 were apprehended, so I wonder if that extra 200 were non-core or (sub)subcontractors, etc?

Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 27d

What a mess: 'invest here, bring jobs and investment but not your own high specialized workers who will be arrested by masked police. Go home, no, wait, stay, please don't go... I'm not letting you go...'

Korean workers’ return held up by Trump’s proposal that they stay in US, Seoul says

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun confirmed the reason for the delay in a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

english.hani.co.kr

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · 28d

Concerning, but not surprising. I'm glad there's a number of people tracking this since the June presidential elections.

Far-right figures are gaining influence, and bending Trump’s ear on Korea, expert says

Andrew Park warned against underestimating “Korean MAGAs” who are attempting to bring the beliefs of the American MAGA movement to Korea

english.hani.co.kr

Reposted by Jamie Doucette

Miles Kenney-Lazar @mklaz.bsky.social · Sep 5

My first book, Socializing Land: Plantations, Dispossession, and Resistance in Laos (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025), exists in this world!

Check it out at: uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/social...

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · Sep 3

This looks like a good opportunity for ECRs in labour studies/geography

UZH: Three Postdoc or Senior Researchers in Labour Geography

The Labour Geography Unit at the Department of Geography of the University of Zurich (UZH) invites applications for three full-time postdoc or senior researcher posts. The appointments will be for fou...

jobs.uzh.ch

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · Sep 3

"the South Korean government must confront the historical reality of treating children as "export goods." ...the overseas adoption system was built on economic motivation, private adoption agencies made money by selling children... Reparative justice demands a full accountability for this legacy"

Song Yeonjun/Anders Riel Müller @andersriel.bsky.social · Sep 2

I was thankfully working on an interview with OhMyNews so an even longer version of my op-ed was published in Korean today. Still trying to get the English version published.

"권리 되찾을 때까지 한국 사회 주변에 귀신처럼 있겠다"

한국에서 덴마크로 입양된 송연준(앤더스 리엘 뮐러) 교수는 진실화해위원회가 해외입양 사례 56건을 인권침해로 인정한 것에 대해 의미를 인정하면서도 미흡함을 지적했다. 그는 해외입양을 통해 친가족과 한국문화로부터 분리된 경험을 '사회적 죽음'이라 표현하며, 한국정부가 아동을 '수출상품'으로 취급하고 신분을 위...

m.ohmynews.com

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Jamie Doucette @jamiedoucette.bsky.social · Sep 2

An excellent panoramic take on recent events in South Korea by Kevin Gray

Kevin Gray, Old Wine in New Bottles, NLR 154, July–August 2025

Though brandishing ‘Stop the Steal!’ placards, along with US and Israeli flags, nationalist mobilizations in South Korea draw on a different lineage to that of Trump, Bolsonaro or Farage. The latest N...

newleftreview.org