article

The Korean kye: maintaining human scale in a modernizing society

Korean studies • 1 • Published In 1977 • Pages: 197-222

By: Kennedy, Gerard F..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document

This is a fairly comprehensive study of urban rotating credit associations, which are one type of a general class of cooperative organizations in Korea known as KYE. KYE are as old as the state itself and according to some historians represent local attempts to maintain some autonomy in a centralized state. KYE can be organized for various purposes, including labor exchange, insurance, socializing, and public works. In a rotating credit association, members contribute to a fund on a monthly basis. The fund is then given out to individual members on a rotating basis. Kennedy found that KYE have a core membership which goes on to form new KYE. Individuals are usually members of more than one KYE and membershhip in general is heterogenous. The size of the fund, rate and increment of contributions, and duration of the KYE are variable to accomodate specific strategies. KYE are extralegal, noncontractual assocations that are based on trustworthiness, especially that of the organizer, who usually holds a high position in the community. Kennedy sees KYE as 'highly successful mobilizers of cash' made possible through a 'unique accommodation of human relationsips to fiscal affairs (221).'

SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF

Borrowing and lending

Credit

Insurance

Mutual aid

Sodalities

cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)

Korea

HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document

1998

RegionThe area the document pertains to

Asia

Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region

East Asia

Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs

article

Evaluation

Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.

Ethnologist

Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.

5: Excellent Primary Data

AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection

Ian Skoggard ; 1997

Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document

1970-1971

Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to

1864-1971

Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)

Republic of Korea

NotesAdditional notes

Gerard F. Kennedy

Includes bibliographical references (p. 222)

LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number

8645605

LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings

Koreans