Women's Labor movement, state suppression, and democratization in South Korea

This study focuses on how Korean women's labor activism in the 70s shaped the democratic struggles of the 80s an examines die spillover impact of die former on die latter. Women's labor protests contributed to die movement of die 80s by promoting (1) the rise of die opposition consciousness, (2) the growth of radical ideology, (3) the mobilization and consolidation of opposition groups, and (4) die expansion of the concept of human rights and democracy. These findings provide evidence that runs counter to the assumption that the democratic movement was a new wave, disconnected from earlier social movements. In addition to the movement-to-movement influence, overlooked in previous research, state suppression of labor protests ironically played a key role in fostering the democratization process in South Korea. BY producing a group of full-time activists and by transforming labor issues into political problems, state repression unintentionally enhanced the strength of the democratic movement in the long run. This suggests that the authoritarian government's suppression of women's resistance through violent measures was not very effective over time.