Sangwon Shin
Sangwon Shin
Adjunct Faculty
Korean history, Korean slavery (nobi system), Chosŏn dynasty, the late Chosŏn period, World history, Globalisation and localisation
Dr. Sangwon Shin current focus is on the continuity of the nobi (slave) status within the state ideology, Confucian rhetoric, and legal system of Chosŏn Korea in the 19th century. He is interested in why forced labor and free wage labor were not the leading agents in abolishing the nobi system and ending social discrimination against mŏsŭm (hired labor) in pre-modern and modern Korea. Dr. Shin also examines the exhibitions at the Chosŏn Expositions of 1915 and 1929, investigating the construction of modern/semi-modern Koreans as economic agents through the exhibition of 1915 and its preparation. Furthermore, he explores how the market studies perspective can be converged with Actor-Network theory (ANT) and the Foucauldian notion of governmentality. His research contributes to a deeper understanding of Korean history, including the ideologies, social factors, and economic factors that have shaped Korea's past and present.
Selected Publications
Sangwon Shin, ‘State ideology in Chosŏn Korea and the abolition of government-owned nobi,’ Studia Orientalia Electronica 124, 05 2023
Sangwon Shin, ‘The absence of revolutionary actions of nobi and mŏsŭm, and its relation to ideological movements in the late Chosŏn dynasty, Perspectives in Korean Studies 25, 02 2023
Sangwon Shin, ‘Confucian rhetoric, legal codes, and the abolition of government-owned nobi in late Chosŏn Korea,’ unpublished PhD dissertation SOAS, 2021
Sangwon Shin, ‘Socio-economic changes and the fluctuation in the nobi population in Chosŏn Korea after the Imjin war (1592-1598),’ unpublished MA dissertation SOAS, 2015
Grants and Fellowships
Funded by BKS (British Korean Society ) in 2017
Education
Dr. Sangwon Shin is currently an adjunct instructor at George Mason University - Korea. He received his BA in History and Archaeology with distinction from Inje University in 2013. He earned his Master's and Doctoral degrees in East Asia History and Japanese and Korean Studies in 2015 and 2021 from SOAS (University of London).
Recent Presentations
A presenter and a penal moderator, ‘Exhibiting Capitalism: The Chosŏn Expositions and the Construction of Economic Selves,’ The 13th Asian Conference on Asian Studies and Cultural Studies in Tokyo, the International Academic Forum (IAFOR), 19-22 May 2023
A conference moderator, ‘28th History of Kaya Conference,’ 2023
A presenter and a penal moderator, ‘ “How dare you mŏsŭm defy me?”: the persistent of mŏsŭm notions and its relation to Gapjil in Korea,’ The 11th World Congress of Korean Studies, AKS (the Academy of Korean Studies), 20-21 October 2022
A presenter, ‘The State Ideology in Chosŏn Korea and the Abolition of Government-owned nobi,’ Nordic Association for Japanese and Korean Studies, the University of Helsinki, 19-20 May 2022
A presenter, ‘Confucian rhetoric, legal codes, and the abolition of government- owned nobi in late Chosŏn Korea,’ Korean History Society (Hanguk Yŏksa Yŏngu- hoe), 27 April 2022
A conference moderator, ‘27th History of Kaya Conference,’ 2021
