In this webinar, co-editors Celeste Arrington (George Washington University) and Patricia Goedde (Sungkyunkwan University) will introduce their new book Rights Claiming in South Korea (Cambridge University Press) with fellow chapter contributor Erin Chung (Johns Hopkins University). Sociologists Paul Chang (Harvard) and Hae Yeon Choo (University of Toronto) will discuss the edited volume’s findings and contributions to our understanding of rights-based activism in contemporary South Korea.

People in South Korea have defined and articulated diverse grievances as rights violations and engaged in claims-making to remedy them. In what institutional contexts do such rights claiming occur, and what sources of support are available for utilizing different claims-making channels? This edited volume illuminates rights in action by investigating how rights are interpreted and acted upon via petitions, court claims, protest, and other legal mobilization methods. Our research shows that rights claims are diversifying in Korea and opportunities and resources for rights claiming have improved. But obtaining rights protections and catalyzing social change remains challenging. Contributors from across the social sciences analyzed original interviews, court rulings and statutes, primary sources in archives and online, and news media coverage in Korean. The chapters uncover conflicts over contending rights claims, expose disparities between law on the books and law in practice, trace interconnections among rights and movements, and map emerging trends in the use of rights language. Case studies include women, workers, people with disabilities, migrants, and sexual minorities.

The book launch is co-sponsored by the GW Institute for Korean Studies and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and its speakers will represent three continents: we look forward to hosting a diverse audience to discuss rights claiming in this event.