The formation and the limits of the People’s Democracy

The efforts of the People's Democracy (PD) shows the difficulties and possibilities of 'anti-capitalist' politics in an East-Asian capitalist society. The emergence of the PD groups could not be separated from the revival of Marxism in South Korea in the 1980s since these groups emerged with the aim of creating a fusion between the renovation of Marxism and the growth of mass movements. The PD began as a significant set of theoretical and political currents through its critique of the 1987 conjuncture that finally led to liberal co-optation. After the 1987 conjuncture many PD organizations felt their influence on the contemporary political conjuncture was weak, and began changing their organizational frame. Despite the PD's critical intervention in social movements, the unification of the three PD groups and the weakening of labor movement bases made the myth of party loom large, and made PD's other important characteristics hazy and set aside.