UC Berkley
Department: Asian Studies
Bio: John Lie (pronounced "Lee") was born in South Korea, grew up in Japan and in Hawaii, and attended Harvard University where he received A.B. magna cum laude in Social Studies in 1982 and Ph.D. in Sociology in 1988. Currently he is C.K. Cho Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Taking literally C. Wright Mills's notion of the sociological imagination to study the intersection of biography, history, and social structure Lie's sociological imagination trilogy has explored his Korean origins and Korean diasporic trajectories. The trilogy includes Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots (with Nancy Abelmann, Harvard University Press, 1995), Han Unbound: The Political Economy of South Korea (Stanford University Press, 1998), and Multiethnic Japan (Harvard University Press, 2001). A recent addition to this corpus is Zainichi (Koreans in Japan): Diasporic Nationalism and Postcolonial Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008). An envoi, The Korean Diaspora, is forthcoming. Link.
Public Lecture: ‘Cultural Divergence in Japan and South Korea? A View through Popular Music’
Selected Publications:
2008 Zainichi (Koreans in Japan): Diasporic Nationalism and Postcolonial Identity, University of California Press
2004 Modern Peoplehood Harvard University Press (paper ed by University of California Press)
2001 Multiethnic Japan Harvard University Press
1998 Han Unbound: The Political Economy of South Korea Stanford University Press
1995 Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots Harvard University Press (with Nancy Abelmann)
Published Articles and Chapters
2012. "Asian Studies / Global Studies"
2012 "What Is the K in K-pop?"
2008 "Social Theory, East Asia, Science Studies"
2008 "Zainichi Recognitions"
2007 "Political Sociology" (with Ryan Calder)
2007 "Global Climate Change and the Politics of Disaster"
Other
2009 UC Berkeley IAS Commencement Speech