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5 - North Korea as a Model of Development

Leadership and Governance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2023

Moe Taylor
Affiliation:
Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
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Summary

In North Korea, Latin American leftist intellectuals and political leaders were forced to come to grips with an extravagant personality cult centred around Kim Il Sung. Part of what made the North Korean model of socialism palatable to some in the 1960s, is that the Cuban Revolution had given new credence to the concept of the “maximum leader.” The New Left often romanticized charismatic leaders from the global South like Fidel, Kim, Mao, and Ho Chi Minh, even while being critical of the autocracy they perceived in the Soviet Union. Admirers of North Korea’s political system argued it reflected the needs of a society in rapid transition from colonial-feudal backwardness to socialist modernity, and that ideas such as “freedom” were subjective and culturally determined. Such narratives of historical and cultural relativism were, ironically, also common among those critical of the North Korean model. This chapter looks at the different ways the North Korean political system could be interpreted within the Latin American Left, with examples from the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Chile.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • North Korea as a Model of Development
  • Moe Taylor, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • Book: North Korea, Tricontinentalism, and the Latin American Revolution, 1959–1970
  • Online publication: 18 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009305204.006
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  • North Korea as a Model of Development
  • Moe Taylor, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • Book: North Korea, Tricontinentalism, and the Latin American Revolution, 1959–1970
  • Online publication: 18 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009305204.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • North Korea as a Model of Development
  • Moe Taylor, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • Book: North Korea, Tricontinentalism, and the Latin American Revolution, 1959–1970
  • Online publication: 18 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009305204.006
Available formats
×