Min Jin Lee Wants Us to Rethink Education

*American Hagwon*, the latest novel by author Min Jin Lee, examines the intersection of education, economic instability, and the Korean diaspora experience. Centered on a middle-class family navigating the fallout of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the narrative uses the "hagwon"—a private tutoring center—as a metaphor for the profound, often desperate, faith in education as a vehicle for upward mobility. Beyond the academic focus, the story highlights the "attachment economy," arguing that while formal education is frequently treated as a primary safety net, true resilience against systemic economic shocks relies on deep-seated community bonds and family support. By tracing the family’s migration from Seoul to California, the work challenges the assumption that meritocratic testing guarantees security, ultimately positioning community as a radical, time-tested survival strategy in an increasingly isolated world.