South Korea's 1987 democratic transition triggered by a mass protest movement represents one of the most dramatic and successful cases of political change. Yet political processes in post-transition South Korea were not without problems and disruptive protests continue to plague the otherwise vibrant democracy to this day. This talk revisits South Korea's contentious political transition and unpacks the complicated relationship between social protest and political change.
Sun-Chul Kim (Ph.D Sociology, Columbia) is Assistant Professor at the department of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures, Emory University. His primary research focuses on how popular contention evolves over time, with special interest in the relationship between popular contention and institutionalized politics. He is the author of Democratization and Social Movements in South Korea, 1984-2002: Defiant Institutionalization in which he investigates the complex processes through which social movements had become a powerful political force in post-transition South Korea. His current research focuses on extreme protest repertoires in South Korea, such as self-immolation, “high-altitude protest,” and years-long tent-ins.
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