To allow the market mechanism to be the sole director of the fate of human beings…indeed, even of the amount and use of purchasing power, would result in the demolition of society.’ [Social] institutions…are disrupted by the very fact that a market economy is foist- ed upon an entirely differently organized community: labor and land are made into commodities, which...is only a short formula for the liquidation of every and any cultural institution in an organic society. 1 J ust as Karl Polanyi described the “countermovement” of society to contain and repair the disruption caused by the attempted instituting of free markets in 19th century England, so we have re-entered a period of social reconsolidation and renewal following two decades of sustained and sometimes forcefully imposed market liberalization, partic- ularly in developing countries. While this most recent countermovement is global in scope, it is perhaps most visible and dramatic among those rapidly growing capitalist and transitional economies of East Asia, collectively referred to as the “Asian Tigers.” In recent years, these economies reinvented themselves as they shifted from guided or state-led development to market-oriented reform and external liberalization, after which they encountered a difficult period of economic crisis and social turmoil, rooted in part in the tensions and disruptions of continuing market reform. 2 In response to these emergent dif- ficulties, the Tiger economies have now embarked on a new development journey into rel- atively uncharted territory. A confluence of economic and geopolitical circumstances initially empowered these countries to chart their own development paths relatively free of the influence of wealthy Markets, Workers and Economic Reforms F ALL 2003 | 1 Journal of International Affairs, Fall 2003, vol. 57, no. 1. © The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York F REDERIC C. DEYO AND KAAN AGARTAN Markets, Workers and Economic Reforms: Reconstructing East Asian Labor Systems Political opposition can be contained by some combination of economic coercion, market disorganization, tactical retreat, and police suppression, but the institutional tensions that underlie that opposition persist. Frederic C. Deyo is professor of sociology at Binghamton University. Kaan Agartan is a Ph.D. can- didate in sociology at Binghamton University. For communications regarding this article please con- tact Fred Deyo at fdeyo@binghamton.edu