Policing Vagrancy in Authoritarian Seoul
(2023) p.140-166- Abstract
- South Korea’s past offers an example of an authoritarian context in which police roles proliferated. Besides maintaining order, police officers in Seoul were deployed for all sorts of purposes. Police were positioned as representatives of a state that had, in the 1960s and 1970s, ambitious plans for remaking society. Seoul’s large underclass posed, in the visions of City Hall and the central government, challenges to those plans. The policing of vagrancy in this period serves as a window onto the interface between state and society. Despite impressive coercive resources, police struggled to impose the state’s demands in managing the streets of Seoul. Instead, they made compromises. In order to attend to their many tasks, police relied on... (More)
- South Korea’s past offers an example of an authoritarian context in which police roles proliferated. Besides maintaining order, police officers in Seoul were deployed for all sorts of purposes. Police were positioned as representatives of a state that had, in the 1960s and 1970s, ambitious plans for remaking society. Seoul’s large underclass posed, in the visions of City Hall and the central government, challenges to those plans. The policing of vagrancy in this period serves as a window onto the interface between state and society. Despite impressive coercive resources, police struggled to impose the state’s demands in managing the streets of Seoul. Instead, they made compromises. In order to attend to their many tasks, police relied on delegates with no formal authority and on irregular procedures. These observations point to a situation of unrestrained power that was also, effectively, limited. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/a1ab333c-d7c0-498c-beca-7388bc40d1dc
- author
- Mobrand, Erik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Regime Type and Beyond : The Transformation of Police in Asia - The Transformation of Police in Asia
- editor
- Chen, W. and Fu, H.
- pages
- 140 - 166
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- ISBN
- 9781009042154
- DOI
- 10.1017/9781009042154.008
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a1ab333c-d7c0-498c-beca-7388bc40d1dc
- date added to LUP
- 2021-06-29 06:40:19
- date last changed
- 2024-03-13 09:37:28
@inbook{a1ab333c-d7c0-498c-beca-7388bc40d1dc, abstract = {{South Korea’s past offers an example of an authoritarian context in which police roles proliferated. Besides maintaining order, police officers in Seoul were deployed for all sorts of purposes. Police were positioned as representatives of a state that had, in the 1960s and 1970s, ambitious plans for remaking society. Seoul’s large underclass posed, in the visions of City Hall and the central government, challenges to those plans. The policing of vagrancy in this period serves as a window onto the interface between state and society. Despite impressive coercive resources, police struggled to impose the state’s demands in managing the streets of Seoul. Instead, they made compromises. In order to attend to their many tasks, police relied on delegates with no formal authority and on irregular procedures. These observations point to a situation of unrestrained power that was also, effectively, limited.}}, author = {{Mobrand, Erik}}, booktitle = {{Regime Type and Beyond : The Transformation of Police in Asia}}, editor = {{Chen, W. and Fu, H.}}, isbn = {{9781009042154}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{140--166}}, publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}}, title = {{Policing Vagrancy in Authoritarian Seoul}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009042154.008}}, doi = {{10.1017/9781009042154.008}}, year = {{2023}}, }