Expect Resistance & Library Autonomous Zone

For the last 3 weeks, James and I have been in Korea visiting family. My long absence made me a stranger in my own land. Serendipitously, on my way to the airport, I was listening to Alice Walker’s interview on KPFA who said that Korea was a defacto U.S. colony. I thought it was an interesting perspective and sadly within a few days in Korea I understood what she meant.

Walking though Seoul I found that Starbucks and misspelled English signs were all over the place (James thought he could make $$ correcting signage ). I can see that the desire to be like “U.S”. has permeated the Korean culture; consumerism has become the primary force in the society. and plastic surgery to make eyes more “western” has become an everyday occurrence — Alice Walker told an anecdote about an entire graduating high school class being given eye surgery by their parents! It seems like plastic surgery is seen as something like going to a movie or shopping. Using whatever possible means parents are dying to send their kids to the U.S or other western countries for “better education.” Many of my relatives told me that they were ever grateful for U.S.’s help during Korean War.

I’ve been longing for home — familiarity, hustle and bustle of family gatherings, and was happy to be there. For a few weeks, at least I didn’t need to worry about communicating with others and making mistakes or being misunderstood by others because of my lack of language or cultural reasons. However, it hurts to see my people are losing a sense of history of struggle for democracy and freedom. It doesn’t require the presence of a military force to be colonized (although there is a large US military presence in Korea!); rather, it takes annihilation of history, culture and normalizing the history of oppressors.

Despite the grim reality, I try to believe that no matter how massive the oppression is there is always resistance taking place. In a bitter cold winter, I saw in a crowded shopping area of Taegu a group of middle aged-women holding signs saying “fight against sexual assault” and medical students holding signs informing citizens about the negative affects of the free trade agreement (FTA) on Korean traditional medicine (we also saw these students in Seoul and Taejon!). Maybe the reality is not as grim as I thought

When I first came to the United States 15 years ago, one of the hardest moments for me was when a teacher asked me my thoughts on a topic. In Korea, I was trained not to think about my ideas but rather to regurgitate what teachers/parents/elders told me. It took years of retraining/reeducating myself to think on my own, to have my own ideas and opinions and to learn how to ask questions and what to ask about. In academia, challenging ideas and theories are welcome and encouraged and are regarded as rewarding activities.

However, I had an experience recently that flew in the face of my training and showed that, in a highly hierarchical professional organization, asking questions is not necessarily rewarded behavior. Hierarchies are put in place to control workers\’ ideas and train them not to think for themselves but rather to promote/keep/follow the order. The logic behind this is to promote better productivity and efficiency. However, I think the consequence of this hierarchical structure is detrimental to the organization and to society in general — loss of creative spirit, culture of collaboration, innovation and humanity.

Hierarchical environment does not nurture workers who want to think freely, critically, independently, and collaboratively but instead makes them into part of the machine that produces the work quota given to them. Eventually workers become unable to participate in the decision making process. They complain (are allowed to complain?) about conditions which doesn’t require them to challenge authorities or follow up/take on any new responsibilities.
It seems to me that, after years of working in a hierarchical environment, many workers accept the hierarchy and stop questioning. In addition, middle- and lower-level managers establish a strong hierarchical relationship within their small spheres of influence which often oppresses their-coworkers. This can be a reaction to their disempowerment in the larger organization. By imposing power upon their co-workers, the hierarchical system colonizes workers\’ minds and establishes the unbending relationship between workers and managers. While this is a good thing from a managerial point of view in the short term, IMHO, it\’s an indication of the death of the organization.

I haven\’t worked that long as a so-called professional, but if my observation is any reflection of reality, then we need to start a movement of decolonization in the work place in order to free our minds and learn how to practice freedom.