Asia's Unknown Uprisings Volume 1 South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century

by Katsiaficas, George

• ISBN13: 9781604864571
• ISBN10: 1604864575
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-20
• Publisher: PM Press

Summary

Using social movements as a prism to illuminate the oft-hidden history of 20th-century Korea, this book provides detailed analysis of major uprisings that have patterned the country's politics and society. From the 1894 Tonghak uprising through the March 1, 1919, independence movement and anti-Japanese resistance, a direct line is traced to the popular opposition to U.S. division of Korea after World War II. The overthrow of Syngman Rhee in 1960, resistance to Park Chung-hee, the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, as well as student, labor, and feminist movements are all recounted with attention to their economic and political contexts. This is the first of two volumes that emphasizes the effects of grassroots political movements in different countries of Asia.

Author Biography

George Katsiaficas is a longtime activist for peace and justice—who was twice granted Fulbright fellowships—and the author of The Imagination of the New Left and The Subversion of Politics. He lives in Boston.

Table of Contents

I am the People, the Mob by Carl Sandburg	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xii
List of Charts, Graphs, and Maps	p. xiii
List of Illustrations and Photographs	p. xiv
List of Abbreviations	p. xvi
Preface My First Encounter with Korea	p. xix
Uprisings and History	p. 1
Korea's Uprisings
Organizations and Movements
Korea's Invisibility
Eurocentrism's Blind Eye
The Reasonability of Uprisings
Elite Use of Uprisings
The Corning Korean Wave
Korea Enters the Modern World System	p. 24
Tradition and Modernity
Korean Civil Society's Resilience
Farmers' War of 1894
Japan's Conquests
March 1, 1919: Korean Independence Uprising
From Uprising to Armed Resistance
U.S. Imperialism and the October People's Uprising 59
Japan-U.S. Collaboration
Japan's Biological Warfare Unit
Formation of the Korean People's Republic
The 1946 October Uprising: From General Strike to Farmers
Revolt
Causes and Consequences of the October Uprising
Against Korea's Division: Jeju Uprising and Yeosun Insurrection	p. 86
Jeju April 3 Uprising
Yeosun Insurrection
Consequences of the Insurrection
National Security Law and the Rhee Dictatorship
Korean War
U.S. Massacre of Civilians
The Minjung Awaken: Students Overthrow Rhee and Park	p. 127
4.19: Students Overthrow Syngman Rhee
Social Movements in the Second Republic
Park Chung-hee Dictatorship
The Urban Poor
Chun Tae-il and the Struggle Against Yushin
Women as Midwives of the Minjung
Buma Uprising
Chun's 12-12 Coup and the Seoul Spring
Gwangju People's Uprising	p. 162
The Uprising Begins
May 21: The Fighting Intensifies
Liberated Gwangju: The Power of Love
Liberated Gwangju's Direct Democracy
The Uprising Spreads
Citizens' Committees in Conflict
The Struggle Moves to a More "Systematic" Level
Military Organization
Class Dynamics in the Uprising
Women and the Uprising
The Final Days
Let's go this way together by Kim Nam-ju
Neoliberalism and the Gwangju Uprising	p. 221
The Economic Transition
Origins of Neoliberalism
U.S. Support for Suppression of Gwangju
Investor Panic and Chun's Rising Star
Choreographing Regime Change
Wisdom of the Minjung
The Gathering Storm	p. 244
Days of Light, Years of Darkness
South Korean Anti-Americanism
Rise of the Minjung
Artists and Minjung Counterculture
Korea's Student Movement
Tendencies within the Movement: PD and NL
Bunding a Workers' Movement
Politicians Take the Lead
U.S. Squeezes Chun
The June Uprising of 1987	p. 277
Chun's April 13 Declaration: "No Constitutional Debate"
Creation of the Kukbon
June 10: The Uprising Begins
June 18: Chun Prepares the Military
June 26: Showdown
The Junta's June 29 Capitulation
Elite-led Transition?
The Role of Civil Society
The Great Workers' Struggle	p. 309
The June Uprising's Class Character
The Wave of Autonomous Worker Actions
Uprising within the Chaebol
Maybe by Park No-hae
Lessons and Legacy
From Minjung to Citizens	p. 333
The First Elections
Ron's War on the Working Class
Students Point to Reunification
The 1991 Struggle: Defeat and Adjustment
Citizens' Movements
Rejuvenation of the Women's Movement
Ecology Movement
Students Continue to Struggle
The First Civilian Government
The Struggle Against Neoliberalism	p. 361
The Dictatorship of the Market
General Strike of 1997
The 1997 IMF Crisis
Neoliberalism as Global Capital's Response to Falling
Rates of Profits
The DJ Government to the Rescue
DJ's Assault on Labor
Women's Autonomy
Foreign Investors Make a Steal
The Democratic Dilemma	p. 389
Enduring Power of Anti-Americanism
Korea's Coming Unification?
The Noh Moo-hyun Presidency
2MB Government
2008 Korean Candlelight Protests
President Lee's Rollback of Reforms
Noh Moo-hyun's Suicide
The Korean Wave
Gwangju's Continuing Centrality
Dialectic of Tradition and Liberation
Alternative Movement
Finding the Cost of Freedom
Appendix Interviews with Citizen-Activists	p. 421
Credits	p. 424
About the Author	p. 425
Index	p. 426
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