UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 33, Page 3
May 27, 1993
Overseas research; Korean feminist movement subject of prof's study

     Marian Palley, professor of political science and international
relations, will spend part of the summer in Korea studying the feminist
movement and the changing roles of women in that country.
     Her trip to Seoul is being supported by a grant from the Korean
Research Foundation.
     Initially, it was Palley's contact with a number of Korean students
and faculty visiting the University of Delaware that led to her interest in
that country's society and politics. Her concern with the Korean women's
rights movement, in particular, began in 1988, Palley said, when she was a
Fulbright scholar in Korea. In 1990 and 1991, she published articles about
research based on her visit.
     During her upcoming trip, Palley intends to update and expand her
research, partially by re-interviewing people she had spoken to in 1988 and
in 1990.
     The results of her work will be included in Roles and Conflict--Korean
and Japanese Women and their Quest for Equality, a book she is co-authoring
with Joyce Geib, professor of political science at City College of New
York. The manuscript will be completed at the end of the summer, and the
book will be published by Temple University Press next year.
     According to a paper presented by Palley and Geib in Canberra before
the Australian Political Science Association in 1992, there have been
dramatic changes in the societal status of women and in the feminist
movement in Korea, in general, over the last five years. However, many
cultural, political and economic barriers and social constraints remain for
Korean women to overcome, they said.
     After World War II, there were many political and economic changes
throughout Korea. Although women in other countries were more active in
demanding equal rights, media reports and Western influences had some
effect on women in Korea.
     Over the years, economic growth, changes in family structure,
increased educational opportunities, industrialization and modernization
have led to improvement in the status of Korean women.
     According to Palley, women in Korea have secondary status compared to
men because of the country's patriarchal belief system and its
long-established Confucian traditions. This is unusual for a highly
industrialized country, Palley and Geib said. In Korea, there is a great
deal of "labor exploitation" and a large "gender-based wage gap," Palley
said.
     In addition to the economic impediments for Korean women, there is the
issue of a woman's inequality within the family, Palley said. "Domestic
expectations" place women at a low status. However, according to Palley, as
economic demands raise the number of two-income families, the position of
women in the family will increase in importance.
     The Korean women's movement also is striving for political
involvement, since, at present, there are no elected women in the Korean
national legislature, Palley said.
     According to Palley and Geib, the future may offer prospects for
increased rights for women in Korea. Also, exposure to the cultures of
other industrialized countries will continue to influence, and help
improve, the attitudes of Korean women.
     I have a basic interest in organizations and the most efficient way to
influence the political process," said Palley, who also has looked at
women's movements in other countries. She is the author or co-author of a
number of articles and seven books including Women in Public Policies and
Race, Sex and Policy Problems.
     Palley received her bachelor's and master's degrees in political
science from Syracuse University and her doctorate from New York
University. She joined the Delaware faculty in 1970. She served as
chairperson of the Department of Political Science from 1979-1984, and was
director of the Women's Studies Program from 1989-1990. In addition, Palley
also has served as secretary of the American Political Science Association,
as vice president of the Southern Political Science Association and as
president of the Women's Caucus for Political Science.
                                        --Torra DeLano-Nuttall