South Korea’s democratization movements, 1980-1987: political structure, political opportunity, and framing
Hyun CHOE and Jiyoung KIM
ABSTRACT Through a case study of democratization movements in South Korea from 1980 to 1987, this study aims to contribute to further sophistication of social movement theories. Recognizing limitation of the existing political opportunity approach, this paper presents a systematic definition of political opportunity structure and shows the mechanism through which it plays a role in the development of a social movement. In particular in explaining South Korea’s democratization movements, the authors distinguish political opportunity from its structure and suggest political opportunity as a framework that could explain the changes in risks and changes affecting social movements.
KEYWORDS: Social movement theories, political opportunity, political structure, framing, South Korea, democratization movements
Authors’ biographies
Hyun Choe is a Professor of Department of Sociology and a research fellow of Social Science Research Institute at Jeju National University. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology at University of California, Irvine. His field of study is Political and Cultural Sociology. He is the author of various articles including articles in Journal of Korean Social Trend and Perspectives and Journal of Historical Sociology.
Jiyoung Kim is Ewha-KOICA Professor of Graduate School of International Studies at Ewha Womans University. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science at University of California, Irvine. She is the author of many policy papers and articles, including articles in the Pacific Focus, Asian Politics & Policy, and International Studies Review.