AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS

88 MEKALIA PAULOS AKLILU
posed to generating, it tends to redistribute wealth and income through
what he refers to as accumulation by dispossession, a modern day manifestation
of “primitive accumulation”, which Marx believed to precede the
establishment of capitalism. Thus, it is first and foremost, a project and a
conscious process, an articulation of interests, rooted in a capitalist politics of
production which seeks the incessant accretion of wealth (Harvey, 2005).
Particular interests seek to rule others, however require legitimacy via
ideas of certain interest groups that emanate from their positions in the
existing division of labor. To this end, noble ideas such as freedom , liberty,
self-regulating market, and prosperity are used to co-opt the masses
into accepting it as a hegemonic discourse, as though there is no other
alternative.
PRE-1997 SOUTH KOREA: AN UN-NEOLIBERAL ASCENDANCY
From the ashes of World War II and the Korean War soon afterwards, a
roaring tiger rose from the humble beginnings of one of the poorest
places, making its mark on the global arena, transforming itself into one
of the most advanced industrial economies in a span of no less than 40
years. With an exceptional long-term development record, this was nothing
less than a true miracle, a marvel of its counterparts. Its phenomenal
leap from tungsten, fish and other primary commodity exports to becoming
the abode of Samsung, LG and Daewoo was attained through a
skilful fusion of market incentives and state direction, the latter more
prominent in its institutional configuration (Chang 2007: 3-14). Fashioned
in the image of the Japanese model, it was a rather un-neoliberal ascendancy,
a testament to the intrinsic worth of a developmental state
(Bello 1998, Harvey 2005). As such, it posed a direct challenge to the
neoliberal approach.
Perhaps there was no one-size-fits-all model of economic growth after-all.
Predictably, this indeed ruffled feathers as it was eroding the superiority
of the pro-market advocates. The very foundations of neoliberalism
were being probed (Robison and Kewison 2005: 188). Furthermore,
over a decade of structural adjustment packages that were unswervingly
being conferred on developing countries elsewhere were not
yielding the much sought after results, thus a replication of the East
Asian model seemed to loom ever the larger on the horizon. Moreover,
initially assisted by the United States during its economic expansion for
strategic reasons relating to the Cold War, the spectacular progress of