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Policing Vagrancy in Authoritarian Seoul

Mobrand, Erik LU (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:
author
organization
publishing date
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}},
}