Posts Tagged ‘Kim Il-sung’

Framing Epistemic Communities in North Korea: From Fungus to Botanical Gardens

By | January 30, 2014

North Korean developmental praxis relies on epistemic communities and research institutions to achieve its goals. The country’s institutions are not only meta-devices for rolling out in reportage to add a veneer of intellectual legitimacy to centralized dictat, as Robert Winstanley-Chesters reveals in the case of Pyongyang Botanical Gardens.

Raising a Fierce Wind: Back to the Future in the New Year’s Message

By | January 14, 2014

The 2014 New Year’s Address leaned heavily upon a classic work of land management. On the brink of its 50th anniversary, Kim Il-sung’s “Rural Theses” seems set to inform much that goes on in North Korea this year, and not just in the agricultural sector. Robert Winstanley-Chesters investigates via the adapted preface to his debut monograph.

History and Revolution: An Interview with Dr. Suzy Kim

By | December 16, 2013

Steven Denney speaks with Dr. Suzy Kim (Rutgers University) about the DPRK’s tangled origins, the impact of Bruce Cumings, and her new book: Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950.

Armilliara and Sunshine: From Kim Jong-il’s Fungal Diplomacy to the Mushroom Institute of Pyongyang

By | November 22, 2013

Robert Winstanley-Chesters follows the trail of North Korean charismatic politics deep into the developmental realm, from fungus’ place under the Sunshine policy to the recently rebuilt Central Mushroom Institute.

Yongusil 12: “War of Words” at Leiden University: Lines of Flight in North Korean Narratology

By | October 15, 2013

In the second of our considerations of Remco Breuker’s “War of Words” ERC funded project at Leiden University, Robert Winstanley-Chesters comments on the flattening of historical space time in North Korea and the geist of Manchuria within.