As South Korea has been stepping up to the position of “sub-empire” within global capitalism since the late twentieth century, Marxism became either “obsolete” or “pro-DPRK” in South Korean mainstream media and politics. Against this backdrop, our research cluster delves into the relevance of Marxism in Korea and the implication of Korean Marxist practices for Marxist theory in general. The cluster aims to foster a conversation on the specificity and universality of Marxist theoretical practices in Korea by translating a selection of texts of Korean Marxists and militants, such as Paek Nam-un, Park Hyun-chae, and Lee Jin-kyung, who participated in the crucial moments in Korean Marxism in the twentieth century. Through our translation and writings, the cluster is committed to connecting Korean Marxism with a global Marxist critique of capitalism beyond the dichotomy of Eurocentric universalism and nationalist provincialism.
A Research Lab at the University of Michigan
