The difficult emergence of a social economy in South Korea[La difficile émergence de l’économie sociale en Corée du Sud]

Social-economy organizations are not well developed in South Korea, and even the concept of the social economy is almost unknown. Most of the cooperatives, nonprofit organizations and foundations are either closely controlled by government or essentially profit-oriented. However, the recent appearance of healthcare cooperatives, consumer cooperatives and organic food cooperatives as well as various types of social enterprises reflects a new approach and suggests the possible emergence of a sector whose growth has long been stymied by Confucianism's ancient hold. This article tries to measure the economic and social impact of Korean Confucianism as seen in the ubiquitous presence of the state, which has left little autonomy for civil society and kept social solidarity contained within families and companies. On top of this "ultural embeddedness" comes the "political embeddedness" that has resulted from Korea's contemporary political history—the Japanese occupation, civil war and a succession of anticommunist dictatorial regimes.