The social position of fishers : South Korea and Poland compared

This paper examines the social position of fishers in contemporary South Korea and Poland. By looking into the historically embedded social structural transformations in the two countries, this paper identifies the following three facts. Firstly, fishers both in South Korea and Poland currently hold low social position. However, unlike Korean fishers whose low social position has hardly changed, Polish fishers enjoyed relatively higher position from the postwar period of World War II through to 1989 when both market economy and democracy system were adopted. Secondly, the low social position of fishers in Korean society is mainly caused by the historically deep rooted generic ideology of Confucianism that played a paramount role to control society members during the Choson period (1392-1910); and has paved through up to contemporary times as a basic guiding rule for social practices in Korean society. The Confucius belief system dictates that such physical activity as fishing is only to pursue material interest out of self-centered purpose; therefore lacking virtuous quality. Thirdly, diverse factors are at play to structure fishers’ relatively decent social standing in the socialist state of Poland between 1939 and 1989: the socialist ideology to emphasize physical work; fishers’ capacity to travel overseas being allowed to carry foreign currency and goods; and their being resourceful by owning seaside resorts as their estate property. However, when the country transformed into a society with market economy and democracy, the structural factors that favor fishers are no longer limited to them; accordingly weaken fishers’ value as a decent job holder.