East Asian Social Movements: Power, Protest, and Change in a Dynamic Region

ISBN-13: 9781461427858 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 516 str.

Jeffrey Broadbent; Vicky Brockman

Opis

In the study of civil society and social movements, most cases are based in Western Europe and North America. These two areas of the world have similar histories and political ideals and structures in common which in turn, affect the structure of its civil society. In studying civil society in Asia, a different understanding of history, politics, and society is needed. The region's long traditions of centralized, authoritarian states buttressed by Confucian and in some cases Communist ideologies may render this concept irrelevant. The chapters in this international volume cover most of the areas and countries traditionally defined as belonging to East Asia: Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. The case studies included in this volume confront the utility of using the Western concept of civil society, represented in its most active form - social movements - to think about East Asia popular politics. Along with providing an array of important case studies of social movements in East Asia, the introduction, chapters and conclusion in the book take up three major theoretical questions:

• the effect of the East Asian cultural, social and institutional context upon the mobilization, activities and outcomes of social movements in that region,
• the role of social movements in larger transformative processes,
• utility of Western social movement concepts in explaining social movements in East Asia.

This book will be of interest to two major groups of readers, those who study East Asia and those who pursue social movements and civil society, as well as politics more generally.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"East Asian Social Movements is a very timely collection for scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in, wrestling with, and working with the dynamic relationships between and among social movements, nonprofit and voluntary organizing, democratic processes, culture, and context. ... The thought-provoking collection merits the attention of all studying and working in the international and interdisciplinary field of social movements and nonprofit and voluntary organizing." (Yea-Wen Chen, Voluntas, Vol. 24, March, 2013)

Spis treści

Introduction: Social Movements and East Asia

Section 1: Japan

1. The Environment Movement in Japan and the Duality of Social Systems.

2. A Comparative Study of Social Movements for a Post-Nuclear Energy Era in Japan and the U.S.

3. The Emergence, Development and Success of the "Association for Holding the Referendum" in Maki

4. The Long-Term Effect of Political Socialization during the Late 1960s Student Protest in Japan.

5. Young Koreans Against Ethnic Discrimination in Japan: A Case Study of the Mintoren Movement.

6. The Day Workers’ Movement in Japan: Symbolic Construction in the "Winter Struggle"

Section 2: South Korea

7. Democratization and Social Movements in South Korea: A Civil Society Perspective

8. Mesomobilization and the June Uprising: Strategic and Cultural Integration in Pro-democracy Movements in South Korea.

Section 3: Taiwan

9. Social Movements in Taiwan: A Typological Analysis.

Section 4: Hong Kong

10. The Reign of Market: Institutional Setting, Business Cycle and Strikes in Hong Kong

11. Social Movement as Cognitive Praxis: The Case of the Student Movement and the Labor Movement in Hong Kong

Section 5: China

12. State Legitimation and Dynamics of the 1989 Pro-democracy Movement in Beijing

13. Institutionalized Official Hostility and Protest Leader Logic: A case study of a long-term Chinese peasants’ collective protest at Dahe Dam

Section 6: Singapore

14. Solidarity from Above: State Ideology, Religion and the Absence of Social Movements in Contemporary Singapore

Conclusion

The Study of East Asian Social Movements: Contributions to Understanding and Theory.

Blurb

In the study of civil society and social movements,  most cases are based in Western Europe and North America.  These two areas of the world have similar histories and political ideals and structures in common which in turn, affect the structure of its civil society.  In studying civil society in Asia, a different understanding of history, politics, and society is needed.  The region’s long traditions of centralized, authoritarian states buttressed by Confucian and in some cases Communist ideologies may render this concept irrelevant.

The chapters in this international volume cover most of the areas and countries traditionally defined as belonging to East Asia: Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.  The case studies included in this volume confront the utility of using the Western concept of civil society, represented in its most active form – social movements – to think about East Asia popular politics. Along with providing an array of important case studies of social movements in East Asia, the introduction, chapters and conclusion in the book take up three major theoretical questions:

• the effect of the East Asian cultural, social and institutional context upon the mobilization, activities and outcomes of social movements in that region
• the role of social movements in larger transformative processes 
• utility of Western social movement concepts in explaining social movements in East Asia.

This book will be of interest to two major groups of readers, those who study East Asia and those who pursue social movements and civil society, as well as politics more generally.

While the study of social movements has emerged in recent years as one of the most vibrant interdisciplinary fields of study in the social sciences, its geographic coverage has been woefully skewed to western democracies.  For that reason alone this volume would be a welcome addition to the literature.  Add to that the consistently high quality of the chapters and movement scholars have all the more reason to add this first rate volume to their libraries.

Thanks again for persevering in this important project

Doug McAdams, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Doug McAdams, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Doug McAdams, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA