In Pursuit of English

Joseph Sung-Yul Park is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore. He is the author of The Local Construction of a Global Language: Ideologies of English in South Korea and co-author of Markets of English: Linguistic Capital and Language Policy in a Globalizing World and A Reference Grammar of Wappo.

• Acknowledgements Chapter 1: IntroductionThe World in Pursuit of English Researching English in the Global Economy Subjectivity as a Critical Perspective on Neoliberalism English, Neoliberalism, and Subjectivity in South Korea Outline of this Book Chapter 2: Language and Subjectivity in NeoliberalismDefining Neoliberalism Theorizing Neoliberalism: Political Economy of Subjectivity Languaging Subjectivity: Methodological Notes ConclusionsChapter 3: English and Neoliberalism in South KoreaNeoliberal South Korea: A Portrait of Hell Korea's Neoliberal Transformation: History, Actors, Processes Korea's English Fever and its Neoliberal Grounding Subjective Foundations of the English Fever: A Historical Perspective Conclusions Chapter 4: Language as Pure Potential: Crafting a Desire for EnglishWho Desires English? Desire, Neoliberalism, and Language Ideology Language as Pure Potential Cosmopolitan Desire and Dreams of Self-realization Desire and the Crafting of New Subjectivities Conclusions Chapter 5: Language Learning as Technology of the Self: The Moral Grounding of EnglishEnglish and inequality in NeoliberalismMorality and Technologies of the SelfSuccess Stories of English Language Learning in the Conservative Press The Successful Learner of English as a Moral Figure English Language Learning as Technology of Self Conclusions Chapter 6: The Biopolitics of Language Learning: Youth, English, and AnxietyYouth as a Valuable Resource Language Learning as Biopolitics Early English Education and Anxieties of the Future Anxieties of Early Study Abroad: Fears of Being Lost in Time Beyond Youth Conclusions Chapter 7: Deferring to the Other: English and Linguistic InsecurityCommodification and Competing Ideologies of Language Reframing Linguistic InsecurityKorean Mid-level Managers in Non-Korean Multinational Corporations Linguistic Insecurity in the Korean Managers' Discourse Coloniality and the Neoliberal Valorization of English Conclusions Chapter 8: Becoming Precarious Subjects: The Unfulfilled Promise of EnglishPrecarity as Subjective Condition Promise of English in a State of Precarity The rise and fall of TOEIC Consequences for Precarity Conclusions Chapter 9: ConclusionsRethinking English, Neoliberalism, and Subjectivity Towards a Global Account of English and Neoliberalism Subjectivity in Language and Political Economy References

this is an accessible book that will make an excellent companion to any graduate course that seeks to encourage critical, political perspectives on English in the world