Capital Accumulation and the Spatial Division of Classes: with Special Reference to the New Middle Class in Korea and Taiwan

Abstract

This article has examined the restructuring of spatial structures and social relations in the process of capitalist development in Korea and Taiwan. The restructuring of spatial structures and social relations in NICs is closely related to the spatial division of labor of advanced capitalist countries. This article analyzed the regional and social class problems in Korea and Taiwan taking a longitudinal approach to the spatial differentiation of the division of labor. The results show that the proportion of the new middle class located in Region A (most industrialized areas) has been higher than that in Region B (the rest of country), and the importance of the regions which exercise external control of the production process (the capital city in Korea and Taiwan) has been increasing in proportion to the increasing importance of the regions in which production process is located, and looking at the functions of the new middle class in relation to capital accumulation (supervision, reproduction, value realization , and technological innovation) we find spatial trichotomization in Korea and spatial dichotomization in Taiwan.