1970년대 도시문제와 조응한 사회정화의 전개 양상-서울시 사회정화 기구 및 정책의 변천을 중심으로-

Abstract

This article examines the transformations and developments in the concept of Social Purification during the period of rapid urbanization around 1970. In particular, it focuses on the case of Seoul, which not only exemplified urbanization but also served as a testing ground for urban issues. The paper further explores the social context that led to the Social Purification measures of the 1980s, which targeted the urban poor and other “objects of Social Purification.” In doing so, it seeks to clarify how the notion of "Social Purification" was given specific meaning during the 1970s, and how this concept evolved into the Social Purification measures and movements of the Chun Doo-hwan regime. In the 1970s, Social Purification became closely tied to urban beautification efforts. As urbanization came to be viewed as the root cause of various social issues, the management of the urban environment emerged as a central aspect of purification policies. As cities became increasingly overcrowded, calls for environmental improvement intensified, culminating in aggressive redevelopment and demolition projects in the mid-1970s. Areas densely populated with unauthorized structures or impoverished communities were labeled as breeding grounds for social problems and thus targeted for removal. Under the banner of redevelopment, these spaces were cleared, effectively displacing urban poor populations and erasing the habitats of those labeled as vagrants or undesirable. The urban poor—referred to by various stigmatizing terms—were early on identified as a major source of urban disorder. Although they played an active role in the uprisings during the transition from the Park Chung-hee to Chun Doo-hwan regimes, they had long been regarded as elements that needed to be purged from the city. Their exclusion served not only a political function, aimed at suppressing dissent, but also a broader socio-spatial logic that framed them as threats to urban order. The expansion of crackdowns and detention was thus legitimized under the guise of Social Purification. The exclusion from the city was disguised as Social Purification.