Through a chronological analysis of Korea's dominant discourses from the late nineteenth century to the present, Kim demonstrates the historical nature of developmentalism and seonjinguk discourse for Korea's developmental era, tracing their genealogy to gaehwa (enlightenment) and munmyeong (civilization) discourses. This is an important critique of west-centric progress worship in South Korea and a profound analysis of different modernization and development paths in East Asia, with comparisons of South Korea, Japan and China. A significant contribution to the East Asia literature and a good read. Jan Nederveen Pieterse, University of California, Santa Barbara ? This book keenly unravels very significant and under-represented aspects of Korean identity and world view in the modern era. One may barely grasp the Korean society and its development without reading this elaborate work. Gil-Sung Park, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor of Sociology, Korea University