Karl Polanyi Institute Asia KPIA

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Karl Polanyi Institute, and the Planning Committee of Karl Polanyi Institute Asia led to the creation of the The Karl Polanyi Institute Asia Cooperative (KPIA). The agreement was signed in Seoul in November 2014 by Professor Margie Mendell, Director of the Institute, Won Soon Park, Mayor of Seoul, Reverend Kyong-Yong Song, Chairman of the Planning Committee, and Dr. Graham Carr, Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, Concordia University. The mission of the Karl Polanyi Institute Asia is to broaden the influence of the work of Karl Polanyi throughout Asia, and to generate dialogue and research on the social economy in Korea and throughout Asia. Dr. Alan Shepard, President, Concordia University and Professor Kari Polanyi Levitt attended the opening ceremony of the KPIA in Seoul, Korea on April 24th, 2015.

In his congratulatory remarks, the Mayor of Seoul, Won Soon Park, highlighted the relevance of Karl Polanyi’s ideas for the future of the region, “…The achievements we made by only looking ahead and rushing toward industrialization and democratization, which we accomplished faster than any other country, were nothing more than displays of our ultimate incompetence, helplessness, and impudicity, showing our lack of awareness of the value of a new society and imagination. It was Antonio Gramsci who said, ‘The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born.’ Everyone maintains that we are in a crisis. Yet the “new” that we need to replace or change the old, has shown no sign of emerging. Since “crisis is just another name for opportunity,” we have to turn this crisis into a “great transition” to a new society and new civilization.  Karl Polanyi has given us the motivation to develop new ideas and a new model of societal development…”