Read more
About the author
JOHN LIE was born in South Korea, grew up in Japan and in Hawaii, and attended Harvard University where he received A.B. magna cum laude in Social Studies in 1982 and Ph.D. in Sociology in 1988. Currently he is C.K. Cho Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Lie's main scholarly interest is social theory. After working on a reconceptualization of "markets," he sought to rethink the categories of modern peoplehood - race, ethnicity, and nation - which was published as Modern Peoplehood (Harvard University Press, 2004). He is currently working on a systematic work of social theory, tentatively entitled The Consolation of Social Theory. In addition, he is completing a series of books on topics that have bedeviled him: violence, democracy, and the modern (global) university. He also serves on the editorial board of over a dozen journals. Lie has also devoted considerable energy to undergraduate teaching and academic administration. His interest in pedagogy has culminated in an introductory textbook, Sociology: Your Compass for a New Century (with Robert Brym, Wadsworth, 2003), which has been translated into many languages. From 2004 to 2009, he was the Dean of International and Area Studies at Berkeley.
Summary
What do we talk about when we talk about East Asia? We are worried about China’s emergence as an economic giant and military power that may upset the regional and, indeed, the global status quo. Much more mercurial, however, and therefore more frightening, is that riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma known as North Korea, with its alternate launching of rhetorical fusillades and long-range missiles. And what has happened to Japan, that once mighty economic engine now reduced to a source of bleak news about stagnation and malaise? Then there is South Korea, manufacturer of such technologically advanced products as smartphones, and lately a generator of transnational fads ranging from snail cream to K-pop. Going beyond these standard scripts, The Dream of East Asia presents a framework for understanding contemporary Northeast Asia, focusing on the countries that comprise our conventional understanding of what we call East Asia—namely, China, Taiwan, Japan, and the two Koreas. In so doing, John Lie illuminates regional economic, political, and cultural dynamics.
