Abstract:

This study focuses on the intersections between racial ideologies, missionary legacies, and state building in the Cold War period. Using South Korean educational reconstruction as a lens, I argue that the Orientalist ideologies, Progressivism, and the missionary legacy inherited by Korean War reconstruction produced policies which not only reshaped racial ideologies, but also helped fashion America's post-war identity. Korean reconstruction transformed Confucian Orientals into modern model minorities and defined the U.S. as an internationalist world power, an empire without colonies. My research also suggests that U.S. reconstruction policies in Korea encouraged an increasingly strong alliance between the government, private citizens and organizations. Moreover, reconstructing Korea had unforeseen consequences for U.S. policymakers. Private citizens and institutions forged transnational relationships that lasted for decades. These connections promoted a culture of studying in America and set a foundation for future Korean immigration to the U.S. Korean reconstruction's strange mixture of modernization, missionary ideals, and racial ideologies established state building policies that did not often encourage strong state development. Finally, because Korea, and not Japan, became the state building model in Asia, the incongruities of the Korean approach plagued U.S. internationalist efforts in other Asian nations.