Neoliberal World

The starting point of this project is the observation of difference of Korean female students' fashion at UIUC. From that point, we dug further into the meaning of fashion in relation to one's identity across two countries and placed it within the broader context of global economy. Since more and more Korean students are forced to study abroad as self-development in competitive globalized society, the fashion also functions as a cultural capital to develop along with their educational capital. By comparing Korean trend with the American fashion, I found the common characteristics lied in these two styles. Korean women seem to be more fashionable than other ethnic groups. Unlike the Korean fashion trend that is more formal, the American style is more casual. But this does not mean that American students are less concerned with their looks nor they're free from social distinction via clothing. By adjusting their fashion to the locale, Korean students accept the racialized and commodified American concept and participate this social practice as a subject. Fashion is related to the personal choice of a certain consumption to express oneself. But it's not personal. It reflects all kinds of social category and distinction such as class, ethnicity, race and gender. fashion consumption at this global era is connected to a global mega corporations marketing strategy disseminated through mass media : TV drama, advertisements performed by famous entertainer, and Internet. In the current American cultural hegemony, nobody is free from the influence of american cutural commodities. Regardless of the physical, geographical difference of fashion in Korea and the US, and the tiring job of Korean women's self-development in their fashion also, they both reflect the neoliberal characteristics of cultural consumption.unpublishe