Protesting Seoul: Resistance in Precarious Times

Human Resources
410 Cottage Home St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Space is limited; RSVP recommended
This event is free (parking validation available); $10 suggested donation to GYOPO

Seoul is a city of protest. On any given day, one might see striking workers, displaced residents, evicted shopkeepers, bereaved parents, feminist, queer and trans activists, religious leaders, politicians, NGO activists and many others protesting defiantly on the streets. For those living in Korea and in the diaspora who follow political events from afar, protest is a reliable weapon of the weak and a familiar form of civic participation. Protest images rarely make the English-speaking international press, though, except when protests mobilize millions, like during the 2016-17 Candlelight Protests when millions gathered over 20 consecutive Saturdays in the historic centers of Seoul to demand the impeachment of former President Park Geun-Hye. This immersive lecture draws from long-term field research to go beyond the spectacle and presents some of the most remarkable stories, sights, sounds, forms, feelings, and infrastructures of protest-making from below. The flourishing cultures of protest call into question the ongoing relations of power and inequality in Korea and highlight the urgency of resistance in precarious times.