Accidental Activists - (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia Un) by Celeste L Arrington (Hardcover)
About this item
Highlights
- Government wrongdoing or negligence harms people worldwide, but not all victims are equally effective at obtaining redress.
- About the Author: Celeste L. Arrington is Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University.
- 248 Pages
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
- Series Name: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia Un
Description
About the Book
Government wrongdoing or negligence harms people worldwide, but not all victims are equally effective at obtaining redress. In Accidental Activists, Celeste L. Arrington examines the interactive dynamics of the politics of redress to understand why not.
Book Synopsis
Government wrongdoing or negligence harms people worldwide, but not all victims are equally effective at obtaining redress. In Accidental Activists, Celeste L. Arrington examines the interactive dynamics of the politics of redress to understand why not. Relatively powerless groups like redress claimants depend on support from political elites, active groups in society, the media, experts, lawyers, and the interested public to capture democratic policymakers' attention and sway their decisions. Focusing on when and how such third-party support matters, Arrington finds that elite allies may raise awareness about the victims' cause or sponsor special legislation, but their activities also tend to deter the mobilization of fellow claimants and public sympathy. By contrast, claimants who gain elite allies only after the difficult and potentially risky process of mobilizing societal support tend to achieve more redress, which can include official inquiries, apologies, compensation, and structural reforms.Arrington draws on her extensive fieldwork to illustrate these dynamics through comparisons of the parallel Japanese and South Korean movements of victims of harsh leprosy control policies, blood products tainted by hepatitis C, and North Korean abductions. Her book thereby highlights how citizens in Northeast Asia--a region grappling with how to address Japan's past wrongs--are leveraging similar processes to hold their own governments accountable for more recent harms. Accidental Activists also reveals the growing power of litigation to promote policy change and greater accountability from decision makers.
Review Quotes
Anthropologists, political scientists, and historians, indeed any political activist or scholar interested in popular politics, will benefit from the insights presented.
-- "PoLAR"This study is an important addition to research on social movements, particularly given the limited amount of work in English about social movements in Japan and Korea. The book is also a model for how to produce significant comparative qualitative research...
-- "Social Science Japan Journal"About the Author
Celeste L. Arrington is Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University.
