Research, Realpolitik, and Development in Korea: The State and the Green Revolution (review)

132BOOK REVIEWS The strengths of this book include its approach, which is rooted in disciplinary study, its organization, which is meticulous and logical, and its economy of discussion, which makes it useful as a short study for the student and scholar. Certain chapters, such as the one on the late Chosön period, are useful in broader contexts as well, such as introductory Korean history courses. And because ideology is part of modernization all over the world, this work helps the reader understand the way religion can serve as a vehicle for new modes of life and thought, and thus speaks to the phenomenology of modernization in general. The book also has certain weaknesses and omissions. In both T'ang China and early Chosön Korea, the state attacked Buddhism, reversing the cultural assimilation process suggested by Grayson's models. This phase of Buddhist development in each place was of crucial historical importance and deserves discussion . Though the religion survived in both cases, it would be interesting to know if there is not a further stage beyond Grayson's five: a reaction against the corruption of powerful religious institutions by politics. Without wishing that Grayson had wandered into speculation about the future, there remains a question about reactions against strong religions in East Asian history. In the case of Korea, one might ponder the question of whether the linkage between Korean Christianity and the state creed of anti-Communism might not someday bring about a reaction against the church because of the way religious anti-Communism helps perpetuate military rule in the south and, through it, the continued division of the country. Other quibbles include irritation with dissertation English in spots ("We have seen that . . . ") and a mistake in the name of Isabella Bird Bishop in the bibliography, ironic because Grayson is something of an expert on Mrs. Bishop's life. By noting the rarity and pettiness of these faults I mean to suggest that the book is superbly edited overall, with very few mistakes. It will be a basic book in any collection on Korean culture. Donald N. Clark Trinity University Research, Realpolitik, andDevelopment in Korea: The State and the Green Revolution, by Larry L. Burmeister. Boulder: Westview Press, 1988. 200 pp. Reference list, subject and author indices. $26.50 This sociology of rural development in South Korea was undertaken to "correct misleading interpretations about the role of Korean agriculture in the development process." (p. 4) Burmeister claims that agricultural sector contributions to rapid industrial transformation in South Korea have too often been overlooked or minimalized. He contends that agriculture may in fact be "the most tightly controlled sector of the Korean economy," (p. 5) and suggests that the real and important societal process and outcome of South Korean state mobilization of BOOK REVIEWS133 the countryside becomes obvious when an in-depth study focuses on the internal workings of the agricultural research system. Here, Burmeister offers up the results of his own in-depth study. The author is a Cornell University-educated sociologist now at the University of Kentucky. This book is based on the results of research funded by several prestigious grants supporting his fieldwork in South Korea. It is a special publication of the Rural Sociological Society, and a scholarly accomplishment of potential interest to all concerned with modernizing Korea, international economic development, and cultural change. The South Korean case study mainly covers events occurring during the 1970s, involving the politics of rice. While reading this book, I recalled my own earlier experience in the 1970s as a bewildered witness to the sudden proliferation of pancake-and-egg specialty restaurants in Seoul, where rice and rice-based products were not being served. Research, Realpolitik and Development explains clearly what was happening at the time: the South Korean government and the Green Revolution had converged and emerged with the ability to manipulate "in the national interest," all in the space of a decade , " 10,000 years" of traditional Korean foodways centering on rice consumption . The state was vigorously promoting the consumption of barley, wheat, and millet as rice substitutes for consumers. But why? Burmeister explains that the realpolitick objectives of competitive industrialization within the modern world system required...