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Book and Article

Sociology of Dreams, Myung-Kyu Park, Hong-Jung Kim. et al (2018)

by SNU Sociology 2020. 4. 7.

Led by Professor Myung-Kyu Park, and Professor Hong-Jung Kim who are both professors in  Department of Sociology, SNU, Sociology of Dreams is the edited volume on regards of Dream, Hope, and future in Sociological context, co-authored by twelve renowned Korean sociologists. It is the 11th book of the 《(Korean) Sociology Collection》 series which is planned and organized by the Korean Sociological Association.

* Below is the original introduction of the book, written by Prof. Myoung-Kyu Park and Prof. Hong-Jung Kim translated in English.
* For further information on more specific topics, we translated and added the chapter titles and linked info of authors for each chapter. 

Leading Authors: Prof. Myung-Kyu Park(left) and Prof. Hong-Jung Kim(right)

 

 

Sociology faces a variety of new challenges in the 21st century as civilizations are in transitionThe institutions, devices, ideologies, and cultures of modern civilization based in Western Europe have undergone fundamental changes or are in crisis, and the innovations in everyday life brought by the rapid development of technology have made the imaginations that could only be seen in SF novels a reality.

Climate change such as global warming is going catastrophic, and social inequality caused by the victory of capitalism, racism caused by globalization, all the problems of refugees, terrorism and violence are developing into new aspects.

This great transition appears more dramatic and dynamic, especially in the case of Korean society, which has formed modern times in a 'compressed' manner. As of 2018, along with a drastic change in the Cold War order on the Korean Peninsula, we are experiencing a structural shift in the so-called fourth industrial revolution, and a complex cultural shift such as equality, democracy and the desire for liberation that erupts from all parts of society.

 

The "Sociology of Dreams" that we are trying to present in this book is an attempt at experimentation and reflection that is actively required in sociology to explore this ever-changing reality. We suggest looking at social reality in the context of the future (dream) symbolically produced  by human actors and the emotional dynamic that drives it.

Dreams are not just daydreaming or fantasies, but collective representations with the power to reflect the desires of social actors; to give them specific symbols; to trigger their actions; and to give directions to them.

While it has been treated as a relatively residual category by 20th-century sociology, whose scholars have focused on rationality and discipline, the importance of dream and hope has actually begun to draw attention since the late 20th century. A number of trends in this century have begun to newly recognize the effects of actors' emotional turbulence on social reality.

 

It is a rediscovery of the core position of "futurity" in the search for social reality.

Sociology of Dreams adopts the view that human actors actively create their own future and create reality according to that future. Before being those who think, who rationally calculate, and who are capable of action, actors are those who dream and who have creative capacity. They plan the future based on their suffering, unhappiness, problems, aspirations, wounds and joy.

The future is not a time that comes by itself, but a semantic structure that is produced. Society changes by structurally operating within the possibilities and limitations provided by the time horizon of future. The 21st century we see now is no different than the reality that someone had dreamed of at some time in the past has arrived.

We need to reflect, approach and interpret the numerous themes in sociology once again through this "Dream perspective"

 

From this point of view, this book focuses on four main topics.

In Part 1, "Dreams and Hope in Sociology", the possibilities of sociology's dream and promise and sociology of dreams is theoretically checked.

Part 2, "Dream by Countries in Modern Order", explores the American dream, Chinese dream, modern Japanese dreams and the ways in which modern Koreans dream.

Part 3, "Social Changes to Late Modern Age and the Possibility of Dreams" explores what new forms of dreams are emerging in current Korean society, different from modern dreams, respectively, in the context of family, risk and globalization.

  • chapter7: History of Family Dream and Reconstruction of Intimacy : Kim, Hye-Kyung
  • chapter8: Privitization of Risk and Condition of Dream - Analysis on Four Narratives : Shin,Kyung-Ah
  • chapter9: Globalization and Dream of Strangers : Choi, Jongryul Choi

Finally, Part 4, "Reconstruction of Dreams/Hope now open in the 21st Century" deals with the problems of Intelligence Information Society, Eco-Democracy, and Peace on the Korean Peninsula, which can be called the dream landscape of the 21st century, from a dream perspective.

  • chapter 10: Work, Job and Dream in Intelligence Information Society : Bae, Young
  • chpater 11: Dream of Eco-Democracy:  Ku, Dowan 
  • chapter 12: Dream of Peace for Korean Peninsular in the 21st Century : Kim, HakJae

 

We are pleased that this attempt could meet opportunity to be as a part of a project 《(Korean) Sociology Collection》publixhed by the Korean Soicological Association, and hope that further studies will be produced to deepen and develop this subject in the future.

 

 

 

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