Since its founding in 2011 the Social Science Korea Research Center on the Commons and Sustainable Society (SSK Center) has been at the forefront of Commons Research in South Korea. This book brings together the discoveries and insights the Center has produced in its first decade, as a contribution to international commons research and to the understanding of the commons in South Korea particularly.

Divided into five main parts, the book charts the course of commons research in South Korea. The first part surveys the historical background to commons thinking through the course of its foundation as a dictator-led developmental state through to its current democratic and neoliberal status quo. Following on from this, the second part looks at how diverse commons perspectives have taken root during this period. Part three then analyses the various specific fields through which commons research in Korea has grown. After this part four presents the fruits of this commons research – the alternative policies and social actions that have been proposed for Korean society. Lastly, part five addresses the remaining challenges which ongoing commons research in Korea is seeking to address.

An insightful resource both for scholars of Korean political economy and for scholars of commons studies more broadly.