Weapons of the dissatisfied? Perceptions of socioeconomic inequality, redistributive preference, and political protest: Evidence from South Korea

Abstract

This paper explores how perceptions of socioeconomic inequality, attitudes about redistribution, and experiences of social upward mobility shape the level of participation in political protests. The dramatic widening of income inequality in Korean society since the 2007 financial breakdown and the new surge of political protests has continued to attract attention. However, scholars have not clearly examined how Korean views about socioeconomic inequality and redistribution affect political activism in protests. This study reflects on the hypotheses of the grievance theory and the resource theory, and investigates survey data to explore whether dissatisfaction with inequality and attitudes about redistribution have a systematic impact on the level of political activism in protests. Using data from the 2009 South Korea Social Survey Program, this study concludes that dissatisfaction with income disparity, dissatisfaction with educational inequality, and redistributive preferences, have a systematic impact in fostering active political engagement in protests.