The Confucianism of the 'ajumma'
I have been a student of Korean politics, society, and culture for about 30 years. That is a long time — but nothing compared to the task. One thing I remember hearing from several of my close Korean friends is that Korea is among the most Confucian of societies. My research and interviews found this to be true. This is meant, to my understanding, as a comment about the history of Korean culture but also about it in its present or contemporary expression.
Certainly, Korea has come a long way from the time of Confucianism’s transmission during the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE – 668 CE). Nor is it the same society that saw nationalist formation following the 1950-53 Korean War. The liberalist and feminist or womanist components of Korean culture are present and growing and weren’t present at its outset. Korean Confucianism is no longer bound to a landed gentry or to any kind of elite or gentry at all. Of course, I acknowledge that these are claims which require proof.
My purpose in this column is to illustrate the argument that Confucianism in South Korea today is expressed through the conformity or alignment of varied population sub-groups to Confucian behaviors. Stories could be told about parent-child, husband-wife, older-to-younger friends, teachers to students, supervisors to employees and on and on. I also think different demographic groups by age represent today’s Confucianism oriented to filial relations, mutual self-development and behavior that doesn’t involve scapegoating. These are norms that stand to be followed as ethics and as the moral tradition of a culture lived and expressed through the people of Korea.
Take for example mature Korean working-class women. I have written about the "ajumma," who nowadays are termed variously "imo," "nuna" or, rising in currency, "gasa gwallisa." The ajumma express a contemporary version of Confucianism as an example for all Koreans. The ideas and actions of ajumma represent an understanding of Confucianism. Their ethos centers on living out the ideas of respect for others across the relationships of Korean society, mutual self-development, and avoidance of scapegoating. Confucianism is a progressive value system for Korea’s working women, the ajumma. Their lived experiences also represent a revaluation of Confucian traditions in ways that bridge liberalism and feminism.
Confucianism, when understood through the lens of the ajumma, is progressive. It isn’t a rigid, oppressive tradition but a moral and political tradition that adapts to contemporary life. The lives of Korean working women navigate social constraints and incorporate elements of liberal and feminist thinking while remaining Confucianist. In many contexts, ajumma act as co-equal leaders for families, with their partners or as the heads of households. While they don’t generally supervise, their behaviors in the workplace express empowerment and demand respect. They must work because they need income to support their families. They also choose to work out of a growing sense of their empowerment and role as women and citizens, as well as out of necessity.
The ajumma’s self-understanding and actions break with central concepts of neo-Confucianism, which tends to be viewed as the root cause of women’s oppression in Korean feminism. This break is not a rejection of Confucianism as a whole, but a reworking of its values to face modern gender and class realities. It reflects the many and varied changes due to modernization in Korea, urbanization, the decline of traditional family arrangements and the growth of educational attainments among all Koreans.
Nonetheless, the story isn’t a romantic idyll. The life conditions of the ajumma highlight the structural constraints they face, such as economic pressures, gendered expectations and political marginalization. Ajumma continue to be the last-hired and first-fired, to be paid less relative to males, to face fewer options for education and health care and to have a smaller circle of options for addressing their mental health and other needs. These conditions shape how they reinterpret Confucian categories like filial piety, family roles and social responsibility.
The ajumma reinterpret Confucian categories in new ways. They apply Confucian ideals of duty and respect to workplace ethics, political engagement and community leadership, while also asserting rights and autonomy that challenge traditional gender hierarchies. The ajumma’s revaluation of Confucianism is a progressive basis for Korean democratization. By redefining Confucian values in a way that aligns with liberal and feminist principles, they contribute to a broader transformation of Korea’s social and political structures.
The ajumma’s engagement with Confucianism is not a retreat from what some would call the postmodern milieu of existence, but an active, critical adaptation of the Confucian tradition that can advance gender equality and democratic reform in Korea. It also illustrates a secular version of Confucianism that has implications for all who care about Korean politics, society and culture.
Bernard Rowan is a professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and a past visiting professor at Hanyang University Graduate School of Public Administration. You may reach him at browan10@yahoo.com.