Protest Dialectics: State Repression and South Korea's Democracy Movement, 1970-1979

by Paul Chang

1970s South Korea is characterized by many as the "dark age for democracy." Most scholarship on South Korea's democracy movement and civil society has focused on the "student revolution" in 1960 and the large protest cycles in the 1980s which were followed by Korea's transition to democracy in 1987. But in his groundbreaking work of political and social history of 1970s South Korea, Paul Chang highlights the importance of understanding the emergence and evolution of the democracy movement in this oft-ignored decade. Protest Dialectics journeys back to 1970s South Korea and provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the numerous events in the 1970s that laid the groundwork for the 1980s democracy movement and the formation of civil society today. Chang shows how the narrative of the 1970s as democracy's "dark age" obfuscates the important material and discursive developments that became the foundations for the movement in the 1980s which, in turn, paved the way for the institutionalization of civil society after transition in 1987. To correct for these oversights in the literature and to better understand the origins of South Korea's vibrant social movement sector this book presents a comprehensive analysis of the emergence and evolution of the democracy movement in the 1970s.

311 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 2015

Reviews

[Syntaxx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sociologist Paul Y. Chang’s "Protest Dialectics: State Repression and South Korea’s Democracy Movement, 1970–1979" examines the relationship between state repression and social movement mobilization, focusing on South Korea’s democracy movement during the 1970s. While much of the scholarship on South Korea’s democracy movement and civil society centers on the 1960 "student revolution" and the large-scale protest cycles of the 1980s, culminating in the country’s democratic transition in 1987, Chang shifts the focus to the 1970s. He provides a detailed analysis of the democracy movement’s emergence and development in the 1970s, emphasizing events that laid the groundwork for the 1980s protests and the subsequent institutionalization of civil society after 1987.

The authoritarian Yusin Constitution and the intensification of state repression against dissidents have led to the characterization of the 1970s as a "dark age for democracy." Chang challenges this reductive portrayal, arguing that "the repressive capacity of the Yusin regime and the movement for democracy developed in tandem," with "the increasing severity of state repression ... in turn influenc[ing] the mobilizing strategies of antigovernment dissidents" (6). He contends that the “dark age” narrative obscures the critical groundwork laid in this period, which enabled later democratic advancements. The book traces the evolution of the anti-Park movement, from a student-led effort in the early 1970s to a broader, more diverse movement by the decade’s end, with varied social actors, issues, and tactics. Chang underscores how this shift unfolded within the ongoing struggle between political challengers and Park’s authoritarian regime.

The book is structured into seven chapters, divided into three parts. In the first part, Chang argues that Park Chung Hee’s rule was not static, but rather in a constant state of flux. After a "democratic interlude" from 1963 to 1971, Park’s regime became more repressive with the establishment of the Yusin system, which he implemented in response to growing criticism (31). However, Park’s repressive measures ultimately backfired, politicizing previously inactive social groups. The second part of the book focuses on this shift, detailing the spread of activism from students to Christians, journalists, and lawyers as the regime intensified its repression through emergency decrees. The third part highlights how the democracy movement diversified, introducing new goals and tactics, such as the rising importance of human rights and the formation of strategic alliances. In the conclusion, Chang discusses the legacies of the 1970s social movements, particularly in terms of leadership, tactical approaches, and ideological development.

Chang’s analysis fills important gaps in the literature and deepens our understanding of the origins of South Korea's vibrant social movement sector. His use of extensive quantitative and qualitative data provides a robust framework for systematically analyzing the disaggregated components of mobilization. This methodological strength is particularly evident in chapters 6 and 7, where he demonstrates how the diversification of movement participants fostered tactical innovations, introduced new issues into public discourse, and facilitated alliance formation. These insights are enhanced by the Stanford Korea Democracy Project (KDP) Events Dataset, which Chang constructed and skillfully employs.

The KDP Events Dataset, encompassing nearly 3,000 protest and repression events from 1970 to 1979, establishes substantive connections between protest events and the dynamics of protest and repression. This granularity enables Chang to vividly illustrate protest cycles and rigorously analyze the interactions between movements and countermovements throughout the decade. Social movement scholars, particularly those attuned to the limitations of cross-sectional data and reliance on newspaper accounts, will appreciate the dataset’s utility and find inspiration in its innovative integration into Chang’s analysis.

The greatest weakness in Chang’s work, in my view, is the overly binary nature of his argument: repression as sparking resistance, which then leads to further repression in a cyclical dynamic. While this framework is valuable, it risks oversimplifying the multifaceted interactions between these forces. Additionally, Chang appears to assert that political social movements are the root cause and foundation of civil society. This strikes me as overly reductive, presenting repression and resistance as straightforward oppositional forces without fully capturing the complexities of the historical and social contexts under examination.

Chang’s reliance on interview data also raises methodological concerns for me. For instance, his analysis of the rise of Christian activism in chapter 4 depends heavily on interviews conducted decades after the events occurred. While these interviews provide valuable perspectives, Chang largely accepts the accounts at face value, missing an opportunity to critically examine what these narratives reveal about the interviewees’ positioning within the broader landscape of contentious politics—both historically and in the present. Furthermore, the book occasionally assumes that identity, belief, or values directly produce coherent actions. I believe that a more careful dissection of group formation and the evolving positional struggles through which categories like "Christians" emerged as organizing identities would have enriched the work.

By incorporating these perspectives, "Protest Dialectics" could have provided a more comprehensive account of the complexities underlying South Korea’s democracy movement. Nevertheless, Chang’s study makes an important contribution to the field by providing a clear account of protests against Park Chung Hee’s growing authoritarianism in the 1970s.

[Saliha]

Read this for funsies

[Handh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardzo informatywne; ciekawe wnioski, bardzo przydatne.