EASG Talk with Dr. Marco Milani: Soft power or hard threat? The use of culture and cultural products in inter-Korean relations

Date: Monday, 20th February
Time: 16:15 – 17:30
Venue: FAB4.52, Faculty of Arts Building

In recent years, South Korea has developed an effective soft power strategy through the use of culture and cultural products for enhancing the country’s global influence and status. The so-called ‘Korean Wave’ – Hallyu – has significantly contributed to increase soft power and to support an effort of national re-branding, aimed at providing South Korea with a new set of attributes and characteristics on the international stage. The use of cultural instruments for foreign policy purposes also had consequences for what concerns its relations with North Korea. In particular, inter-Korean relations can be negatively affected in two areas by the development and spread of South Korea’s soft power. First, the circulation of South Korean cultural products in North Korea, which has significantly grown in recent years, could be perceived by the North Korean leadership as a sort of ‘cultural attack’, starting a process of ‘securitization’ of cultural products that can result in an antagonizing dynamic between the two Koreas. Second, the emphasis on specific characteristics of a ‘South Korean identity’ can undermine the process of inter-Korean reconciliation.

Marco Milani is Assistant Professor at the Department of Arts, University of Bologna. Previously, he has been Lecturer at the School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Korean Studies Institute and Lecturer at the School of International Relations, University of Southern California. He also held teaching positions at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and had been visiting research fellow at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (South Korea) and at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (Netherlands). He has published numerous articles and book chapters on North and South Korea’s foreign policy, contemporary Korean history and inter-Korean relations. He is co-editor of the book on South Korea’s foreign policy titled The Korean Paradox: domestic political divide and foreign policy in South Korea (Routledge, 2019). He is currently working on a book manuscript based on his research tentatively titled, ‘The Evolution of Inter-Korean Cooperation: History, Theory and Practice.’ His research interests include: Korean History and Society, History and International Relations of East Asia, North and South Korean foreign and security policy, Inter-Korean relations, Contemporary Korean cultural production, Media and Communication in Korea and East Asia.

Madeleine Fagan publishes new article in International Political Sociology ’The Paradox of Anthropocene Inaction: Knowledge Production, Mobilization and the Securitization of Social Relations’ (open access)

This article argues that the Anthropocene produces a paradox when thinking about political mobilization. I show how the knowledge production practices that render the Anthropocene visible and actionable, including planetary boundaries, Earth System Science modeling of earth systems, and geological strata, also circulate a security rationality. This rationality is one that attempts to manage, co-opt, or productively direct processes of becoming, which limits possibilities for mobilization. A lens that assumes political mobilization is a function of increased knowledge, understanding, and evidence contributes to this problem. By starting instead with an understanding of possibilities for mobilization as emerging from social relations, the article highlights the way in which the security rationality circulated by Anthropocene knowledge production risks transforming those social relations into security relations. Netting the planet and the human together through the practices of calculation and representation that make the Anthropocene visible produces a decontextualized, disaggregated, and dispersed subject and so limits possibilities for collective political mobilization.

The Inclusive Education Working Group in PAIS is seeking to appoint 2 Student Research Assistants to support the work towards the department’s Inclusive Education Plan. These roles are based on the usual PAIS Student Research Assistant roles. As such, students in this role will work within the department for (up to) 6 hours per week for (up to) 20 weeks (although in practice we are flexible in terms of hours worked, as long as it does not exceed 120 hours in total). The hourly pay rate is £10.90 plus £1.32 holiday pay.

The role will involve assisting members of the Inclusive Education Working Group do scoping research on the inclusive education gaps within the department and possible actions to address them with the aim to produce a position paper co-authored by staff and students. As this work is likely to involve the handling of confidential information, applicants should have (or will be willing to develop) a good understanding of the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). General Responsibilities will include assisting in research such as reviewing reports and documents, administrative tasks such as typing up notes or data entry, and contributing to the co-authored report.

Applications are particularly encouraged from groups that are presently under-represented in PAIS, including individuals who identify as Black, Asian and other under-represented ethnicities, women, those with disabilities, those who identify as LGBTQUA+, and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

All appointments will be subject to a probationary period of 4 working weeks.

Person specification:

Essential Criteria:

• Current undergraduate finalist or postgraduate student in PAIS
• Ability to work independently and accurately to meet deadlines
• Ability to apply research techniques, methodology and logical critical analysis
• Experience of working with standard software packages for word processing, spreadsheets, presentation slides
• A demonstrable commitment to principles of equality and diversity
• High level of comprehension and the ability to extract relevant information
• Ability to communicate project progress effectively to project leader, ask for feedback, and implement instructions

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of both qualitative and quantitative research
• Experience of preparing reports to a high standard
• Awareness of matters of inclusion in higher education

Apply by submitting your CV and a short cover letter (max 1 page) to: Karoline Schneider, Departmental Administrator (Teaching & Learning) k.schneider@warwick.ac.uk

Deadline for applications: 28th February 2023, 12 noon

The Revolution Unfulfilled: Brazil's Foreign Policy under Bolsonaro 
With Dawisson Belém Lopes 
Professor of International and Comparative Politics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais 
Visiting Researcher at the Latin America Centre, Oxford University 

When: 15 - 16:30, Monday, 13 February 
Where: R1.04 (Ramphal Building) 
Co-sponsored by PAIS International Relations and Security Cluster (IRS) & Latin America at Warwick Network (LAWN) 

Far-right populist leaders often take office promising a revolution in policies. They project themselves as counterpoints to other political competitors and defend radical positions regarding a set of issues. These contents may include nationalistic–chauvinistic measures, antienvironmental attitudes, conservative postures toward human rights, and religious leaning. According to our framework, though, leaders will only be able to pursue sharp foreign policy changes in pluralistic societies if, first, they win internal disputes at policymaking venues. Second, some policies will depend on external support or, at least, the non-imposition of unsurmountable obstacles. An acute foreign policy change may occur if such “battles” are won—home and abroad. Otherwise, a few incremental and superficial shifts are the maximum outcomes these leaders can get. A within-case study on Bolsonaro's Brazil provides useful evidence for our argument.

The National Student Survey (NSS) is now open at the link below. In partnership with our students, we have built the PAIS department together. Thank you! We’d love your feedback on the three or four years you have spent with us, in PAIS.

TAKE THE SURVEY – DIRECT LINK TO COMPLETE THE NSS

Why else complete the survey?

As a thank you (and following student feedback) the following PAIS specific prizes are available (eligible finalists will be entered into a prize draw).

• 20 x £20 and 1 x £100 Love2Shop vouchers released once we hit a 50% response rate
• 20 x £20 and 1 x £100 Love2Shop vouchers released once we hit a 75% response rate

We’ll email you when we reach each threshold and, with their permission, let you know who the lucky winners are. The winners, if they wish, can ask for their prize fund to be donated to one of the University charity schemes instead. There is not a cash alternative available.

The PAIS scheme is in addition to the University prize draw. However, to clarify, PAIS finalists are eligible to win in both.

It will take just 10 minutes to complete. Your feedback matters and makes a huge difference to PAIS as shown on our You Said We Did page.