Tradition as Strategy: An Analytic Narrative of Hahoe Village's Transition to Modernity

Abstract:In this study, we examine how tradition and sustainability were preserved in Hahoe Village over the course of modernization, using the analytic narrative method. Combining historical and ethnographic narratives with game theoretic analysis, we try to understand the distinctive character of Hahoe Village, resulting from systems of norms, beliefs, and checks and balances between traditional, semi-traditional, and modern institutions for managing its tangible and intangible cultural and natural resources. In the game theory analysis, we assume that Hahoe Village's current condition resulted from repeated interactions between two groups of individuals: tradition-oriented agents and market-oriented agents. We formulate the payoff structure underlying responses to the social dilemma of managing Hahoe Village's common resources based on the affordability hypothesis and shared mental model hypothesis. We find that the preservation of Hahoe Village's traditions was closely connected to the successful institutionalization of tradition and sustainability through what can be termed the "tradition game." We specify the characteristics of Hahoe Village's sustainable institutions and argue that their sustainability gradually shifted from embedded sustainability to institutional sustainability.