Bøker av Geir Helgesen

Contact between Asia and the Nordic countries goes back at least 500 years. Scholarly interest and exchange between the two regions took time to develop, however; for many years Nordic scholars were more focused on the Biblical world than on the Far East or Subcontinent. The explosion in academic learning from the 1960s dramatically changed this picture and by the end of the decade Asia was studied at more than 100 institutions scattered across the Nordic region. In response, an institute was established now known as NIAS (the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies), tasked to support and provide focus to this fragmented scholarly environment. The institute opened its doors in 1968.>In celebration of 50 years of publishing at NIAS, this volume offers a selection of Nordic writing on Asia. The excerpts span the decades and the myriad fields within Asian Studies, with context and relevance offered by commentaries from present-day scholars. Readers from all areas and disciplines will find much to tempt them in this smorgasbord of Asia learning.

There is hardly another country as isolated and with such a bleak image as North Korea. It is portrayed in the Western media as a Hermit Kingdom ruled by an outdated, communist dictatorship whose clandestine nuclear programs alarm its neighbors and which uses dreadful labor camps to control a population wracked by famine. The regime's poor track record on human rights is stressed time and again by both Western governments and international organizations. Prospects look bleak for any improvement in relations let alone the start of a dialogue on human rights. Offering a rare, nuanced analysis of the North Korean situation, this short study argues that not only is a constructive and fruitful dialogue on human rights possible but also it is desirable for both parties.

Exploring the psychological roots of power and authority - key concepts to an understanding of "good government" - this study argues that socialization in general and political socialization in particular are key factors in any analysis of democracy, be it in Korea or elsewhere.