The Work Experience of Early Retirees, or “Korean Downshifters,” in Neoliberal Society

• In Event: 3184 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 09. Work and the Workplace

Abstract

This paper explores the work experience of early retirees in South Korea. Conventionally, retirement was regarded in South Korea as a path taken only by senior citizens, as a way of resting at the end of their days. The form of retirement researched here is a distinct phenomenon, in that these retirees opted out of employment voluntarily in their 30s and 40s—at very early ages compared to conventional retirees—and sought alternatives to the neoliberal labor regime. These retirees belong to the “New Generation” in South Korea. In their lifetime, members of this generation have experienced transitional society—as the country moved from an authoritarian society to a post-authoritarian society—as well as neoliberal society. Under the regime of neoliberalism, profit-driven and competition-centered labor has led to increasing levels of anxiety amongst workers. Workers feel forced to withdraw into themselves, and possibilities for cooperation among workers are eliminated. Survival becomes a lifestyle. The early retirees studied in this research have quit their jobs within that system and found alternatives, such as farming or activism. I see their early retirement as a form of “Korean downshifting”: actively changing their life paths within the neoliberal context, in order to transform their labor and life.

Author

• Youngrong Lee, Syracuse University