Looking for More Space-sensitive Korean Studies

Abstract

Korean studies are in crisis because they have fallen prey to the territorial trap associated with methodological territorialism and methodological nationalism. In order to overcome this situation, this paper suggests the studies on Korea to be more active in accepting the socio-spatial perspective that emphasize the inseparability of society and space. In particular, paying special attention to the 4 important dimensions of socio-spatial relations, such as place, territory, network and scale, it examines the ways in which these 4 dimensions are overlapped, interconnected and dynamically interacting with one another from the perspective of multi-scalar networked territoriality. In conclusion, I argue that the Korean studies need to understand the variegated and multi-scalar nature of Korea, a place, which is constituted through complex interactions among diverse political, social, economic and cultural forces and processes that operate in various places and at diverse geographical scales.