[October 31, 2018] Democratization and Gender in Postcolonial South Korea

Lecture Series with Eunkyung Kim

“Democratization and Gender in Postcolonial South Korea”

1957 E St. NW, Room 505, Washington, DC 20052

South Korea achieved rapid economic development and democratization. On the one hand, Korean democracy seems to have taken root and stabilized. On the other hand, it is the case that hate speech and violence against women and sexual minorities are increasing. Dr. Kim questions what democratization means for women in contemporary South Korea. She explores its historical trajectory focusing on the new civil code that has gender discriminatory characteristics in postcolonial South Korea.

Speaker

Eunkyung Kim

Eunkyung Kim is Research Professor of Research Institute of Asian Women at Sookmyung Women’s University and Administrative Director of Korean Association of Women’s History. Her research focuses on the issues of gender, sexuality, family, and cultural history of cinema in South Korea. She is the author of Cultural History of Korean Students: From Liberation to the 1960 April Revolution (Seohaemunjip, 2018).

Moderator

Celeste Arrington

Celeste L. Arrington is Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She specializes in comparative politics, with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan. Her research and teaching focus on law and social movements, the politics of redress, the media, litigation, lawyers, policy-making processes, historical justice, North Korean human rights, and qualitative methods. She is also interested in the international relations and security of Northeast Asia and transnational activism. She is the author ofAccidental Activists: Victims and Government Accountability in South Korea and Japan (2016) and has published in the Comparative Political Studies, Law & Society Review, Journal of East Asian Studies, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, and the Washington Post, among others. She received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an A.B. from Princeton University. She is currently writing a book that analyzes the role of lawyers and legal activism in Japanese and Korean policies related to persons with disabilities and tobacco control.