CLASS-STRUCTURE AND CLASS-CONSCIOUSNESS IN SOUTH-KOREA

During the democratic transition in South Korea, a broad middle class/ working class coalition was initially strong enough td wring political concessions from the authoritarian regime but soon dissolved, raising important questions concerning the internal composition and ideologic al divisions of the alliance. This article, by exploring the relations hip between class structure and class consciousness, aims to unfold on e strand of mechanisms that explain why the political class coalition was so precarious and short-lived.