IM Dong-kyun

Director of the Institute for Social Development and Policy Research, Seoul National University / Professor of Sociology, Seoul National University

IM Dong-kyun
Times of the Remarks 2024. 11. 12. 13:30-13:55
Title Research Findings 2 - Beyond Individualized Responses to Low Birth Rates and Population Aging: Creating New Social Narratives and Social Hope

IM Dong-Kyun, professor of sociology at Seoul National University, received his PhD from Harvard University, where he researched popular attitudes and beliefs about distributive justice. His research interests cover, broadly, social psychology, cognitive psychology, political sociology, and social theory. Major publications include "A Contemporary Portrait of Life in Korea,” "Social Well-Being, Development, and Multiple Modernities in Asia," “Seven Waves,” “Platform Impact 2023,” “Towards a Fairer Society,” “Seoul’s Future Generations,” and more. Recently, his research has focused on the new forms of individualism and collectivism that can be observed in Korean society and a positive sociology that can engender new feelings of hope within society and enable the exercise of collective capabilities. He is currently the director of the Institute for Social Development and Policy Research at Seoul National University and previously served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Asian Sociology.


[Session Title and Description]

Beyond Individualized Responses to Low Birth Rates and Population Aging: Creating New Social Narratives and Social Hope

The low birth rate problem presently driving Korea to extinction is not simply about how many children are being born. It is a much deeper and fundamental problem that concerns how Koreans live their lives, how we relate to one another, and to what we ascribe value and significance. In this context, in-depth interviews were conducted with 119 people on questions like how healthy we are in our individual lives and as a society, where we should be headed as a society, what values we should have in common, and how we can turn our vision for society into reality. This session offers a picture, based on the input of ordinary people like you and me, of the new hope we must build and the new story we must work towards as a society.