South Korea’s Democratization Movement of the 1970s and 80s and Communicative Interaction in Transnational Ecumenical Networks

Abstract

Transnational network studies in international relations, sociology, and history have grown rapidly since the 1990s. Research often tends to take a top-down (North-South) approach in which developed countries or international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are assumed to “help” the developing ones. However, this one-way approach cannot fully explain the dynamics of transnational activist networks. The following paper aims to better understand the dynamics of transnational networks by focusing on the ‘communicative interaction’ among various groups supporting the democratization movement in South Korea. It specifically investigates the formation and activities of transnational information exchange networks in Japan and the United States that worked with Korean Christians. In addition, this research examines the meaning and political implications of forming transnational networks with struggling others; transnational networks can work reflexively by problematizing the structural relationships among differently situated actors.