Global Hong Kong Series: Lessons from Korea

As Hong Kong experiences unprecedented political and social upheavals, we invite speakers who can shed light on other societies which have faced similar challenges. Putting Hong Kong in global perspectives may inspire comparative research, theoretical and historical reflections, as well as public discussions on our collective future.

Lecture 3: Undongkwŏn as a Counterpublic Sphere in the South Korean Minjung Movement

Speaker: Prof. Namhee LEE, Associate Professor of History & Director of Center for Korean Studies, UCLA

Date & Time: 03 Dec 2020 11 AM (HKT) / 2nd Dec 2020 7 PM (Pacific Standard Time)

(30 mins presentation + 30mins Q&A section)

Format: Zoom Webinar

Language: English

Abstract: Looking at the South Korean student movement within the larger context of the minjung movement, this talk will focus on discursive strategies that constituted undongkwŏn (“the movement sphere”) as a counterpublic, the process through which an ordinary student entered the realm of undongkwŏn, the ways in which the undongkwŏn culture was created and maintained, and how the counterpublic sphere is related to the process of larger societal transformation.

Register HERE

About the Speaker

Namhee LEE is associate professor of modern Korean history and director of the Center for Korean Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her publications include The Making of Minjung: Democracy and the Politics of Representation in South Korea (Cornell University Press, 2007). Her recent book manuscript, History, Memory, and Neoliberal Disavowal: The Politics of Time and Culture War in South Korea, explores memory making and history writing in the era of postauthoritarianism and neoliberalism.