"The Political Economy of Parasite" by Dr. Ha-Joon Chang

The 2021 Drs. Sung-Chul Yang and Daisy Lee Yang Lecture was held on October 6, 2021 with Dr. Ha-Joon Chang who gave a presentation titled, “The Political Economy of Parasite.”

Dr. Ha-Joon Chang presented an analysis of the political economy of inequality in South Korea today using the first-ever non-English-language winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, Parasite. Particular attention is paid to the interactions between the economic structure, the regulatory regime, the welfare state, and the education system that have generated the uniquely Korean dynamic of inequality and conflicts portrayed in Parasite.

Dr. Ha-Joon Chang teaches economics at the University of Cambridge. He earned his MPhil and Ph.D. degree at the University of Cambridge after graduating from Seoul National University in South Korea. He has published 16 authored books and 11 edited books, including The Political Economy of Industrial Policy, Kicking Away the Ladder, Bad Samaritans, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism, and Economics: The User’s Guide.

Moderator: Tae-Ung Baik, Professor of Law, Director, Center for Korean Studies, UHM

Discussant: Sang-Hyon Lee, Professor of Economics, UHM

Drs. Sung-Chul Yang and Daisy Lee Yang endowed this lecture Series in order to facilitate the regular appearance of eminent scholars of Korean and Asian affairs at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa campus. The series was established to “contribute to the building of common ground that our world needs in order to resolve conflict and create a more peaceful world.”