Political Activism, Discursive Power, and Norm Negotiation
Political Activism, Discursive Power, and Norm Negotiation
This chapter assesses the usefulness of both traditional and critical approaches to the study of inter-Korean relations. After outlining the approaches that have informed analysis of inter-Korean relations to date, it develops a conceptual framework that incorporates the normative role played by political activists as they promote their own ideas regarding the pursuit of justice in inter-Korean relations. It argues that that the parameters of contemporary debates over inter-Korean relations were formed over years of contentious advocacy by South Korean political activists with regard to three core beliefs: unification, democracy, and human rights. A conceptual framework that focuses on the role of ethical argument and the negotiated nature of discourse helps elucidate this hypothesis in two ways. First, recognition of the important normative role played by political activists, as discursive agents, reveals the centrality of justice-related questions to the current debate over inter-Korean relations. Second, the conceptual framework deals with the question of power and provides a contextual dimension to the debate over inter-Korean relations.
Keywords: South Korea, inter-Korean relations, political activists, unification, democracy, human rights
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