ABSTRACT
Having examined the institutional dynamics of the state itself, I will further explore in this chapter the dynamics of state formation in modern Korea in terms of culture, social structure and social action. I will discuss the concept of civil society and the public sphere using Habermas’ framework, and then briefly examine Cohen and Arato’s analysis of the Habermasian reconstruction of the concept of civil society, before moving to an analysis of civil society in Korea and its role in modern state formation. What I want to demonstrate here is that the state-civil society relationship can be understood more clearly in the context of cultural tradition than through the abstract dichotomy of state and civil society.1 Often the concept of culture is used in a limited sense and the role of cultural interpretation in social theory has been underappreciated. In the following discussion of the South Korean case, I argue for the importance of the cultural dimension and an adequate appreciation of the concept of culture.
