Flexible Exportism? Situating Financialization within Korean Political Economy

The literature on financialization has grown considerably over the last decade; however, far too little of it has focused on regions outside of Europe and North America and much of it risks ignoring class dynamics. Surveying the literature on financialization in geography and beyond, this article suggests some ways in which it might be modified to better address the constraints of political economic transformation in South Korea. I suggest that an understanding of financialization that takes into account the dynamics of exportist economies and moves beyond the limitations of developmental state theory might be useful for understanding some of the challenges of the Korean context. If undertaken in a manner sensitive to the nature of uneven geographical development, the problematic of financialization can complement and perhaps enrich existing research into the dynamics of economic development, urban restructuring, and political economic strategy in Korea and East Asia.