The Commodification of Water and Power Relations between Japanese Settlers and Koreans in Late Nineteenth-Century Pusan

The Commodification of Water and Power Relations between Japanese Settlers and Koreans in Late Nineteenth-Century Pusan

This paper investigates how the construction of a water supply system in Pusan, Korea, changed the concept of water from a public good for communal use to a commodity for sale to residents. In doing so, it aims to analyze the shifting power relations between Japanese settlers and Koreans that occurred because of the construction and development of the water supply system. In tracing the process of the commodification of water, it will closely examine the construction and development of the water supply system in Pusan, centered on three phases of construction that took place in the years 1894-1895, 1900-1902, and 1907-1910. It will also analyze the impact of the water supply system on the everyday lives of local people at the time, including both Japanese settlers and Koreans in Pusan, in order to highlight how the power relations between them were shaped and defined as reflected in access to water and “hygienic modernity.”

This paper investigates how the construction of a water supply system in Pusan, Korea, changed the concept of water from a public good for communal use to a commodity for sale to residents. In doing so, it aims to analyze the shifting power relations between Japanese settlers and Koreans that occurred because of the construction and development of the water supply system. In tracing the process of the commodification of water, it will closely examine the construction and development of the water supply system in Pusan, centered on three phases of construction that took place in the years 1894-1895, 1900-1902, and 1907-1910. It will also analyze the impact of the water supply system on the everyday lives of local people at the time, including both Japanese settlers and Koreans in Pusan, in order to highlight how the power relations between them were shaped and defined as reflected in access to water and “hygienic modernity.”