On April 6th, 2021, the GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) and Sigur Center for Asian Studies hosted the Book Talk & Panel Discussion: Rights Claiming in South Korea. Moderated by Professor Jisoo Kim, Director of GWIKS, the panel features co-editors, Celeste Arrington, Korean Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at GW, Patricia Goedde, Professor at Sungkyunkwan University, School of Law and fellow chapter contributor Erin Aeran Chung, Associate Professor of East Asian Politics in the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. The panel begins by summarizing the book’s approach. They further talk about how different groups interpret and mobilize rights, what factors and reforms affect the perceived efficacy of different channels, what sources of support claimants have, the societal backlash against rights claims, how culturally ingrained hierarchies challenge notions of equality in human rights, etc. Discussants Paul Chang, Associate Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and Hae Yeon Choo, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto discuss the edited volume’s findings and contributions to our understanding of rights-based activism in contemporary South Korea.
Following the presentations, the moderator moved onto a Q&A session. The audience submitted a wide range of questions about the contestation around rights, including another chapter in the freedom of press or rights of journalists, etc. The Q&A session was very insightful, and also included suggestions for potential future research topics such as the impact of the pandemic on contestation over rights and issues faced by women in South Korea including the “Me Too” movement.
