RELATIONS BETWEEN ACTIVISTS AND CITIZENS, THE INTERNAL DRIVING FORCE OF THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT AS A FESTIVAL: A CASE STUDY OF THE 2016 – 2017 CANDLELIGHT VIGILS
PDF

Keywords

candlelight vigil
festival
violence
manifestation
activist
demonstrator
symbol
conflict
flag

How to Cite

LEE, D. H. (2021). RELATIONS BETWEEN ACTIVISTS AND CITIZENS, THE INTERNAL DRIVING FORCE OF THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT AS A FESTIVAL: A CASE STUDY OF THE 2016 – 2017 CANDLELIGHT VIGILS. International Journal of Korean Humanities and Social Sciences, 7, 143–161. https://doi.org/10.14746/kr.2021.07.07

Abstract

The 2016-2017 candlelight vigil was a very important event because it led to the impeachment of an incumbent president for the first time in South Korea’s constitutional history. Above all, it was a remarkable phenomenon in that it unfolded peacefully and acted like a festival even though many citizens gathered on the streets to demand the president’s impeachment, which is essentially an extreme argument under institutional democracy. Violence, which was common in previous mass movements, was impossible in the 2016-2017. Some emphasized the heightened sense of citizenship, while others understand it in a historical context, but it does not see the dynamics of change that exist within the mass movement. Moreover, peaceful and festive gatherings have received a lot of attention, especially in the 2000s. And this is highlighted as a strategy for citizens who voluntarily come out on the street to keep their distance from activists. The existence of a movement dealing with various political agendas was seen as a risk of distorting the purpose of the manifestation. For citizens, distancing from them is an important strategy to preserve the purity of the movement. Therefore, the ‘flag’, which is a symbol of the movement, was excluded from the square. However, the so-called ‘Any Flag Festival’ that appeared at the 2016-2017 candlelight vigils bridges the gap between the movement represented by the flag and the general participants. The group play using flags relieved the tension between the movement’s organization and the citizens, which was an internal conflict factor in the manifestation, which coincidentally led them to be together. As a result, this formed an important social context for mass movements such as festivals, which became important in the 2000s, to be completed in 2016 and 2017.

https://doi.org/10.14746/kr.2021.07.07
PDF

References

Fillieule, Olivier, and Danielle Tartakowsky. 2008. La manifestation. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/scpo.filli.2008.01

Hong, Seong-tae (홍성태). 2008. 촛불집회와 민주주의 (Chotpul jibhui-wa minjujuui). 경제와 사회 (Gyeongje-wa sahoe), no 80: 10-39.

Kim, Won (김원). 2005. 사회운동의 새로운 구성방식에 대한 연구 - 2002년 촛불시위를 중심으로 (Sahoe undong-ui saeroun guseong bangsig-e daehan yeongu – 2002-nyeon chotbul siwi-reul jungsim-euro). 담론 (Damron), no 2: 131-158.

Ko, Hee-jin (고희진). 2020. 백남기 농민 사망 5년… 확정 못한 ‘물대포 지침’ (Baek Nam-Gi nongmin samang 5 nyeon… Hwagjeong mothan ‘Muldaepo Jichim’). 경향신문 (Kyunghyang Shinmun). November 10, 2020. http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?art_id=202011102114015, accessed November 14, 2021.

Ko, Joon-hyuk (고준혁). 2016. “벌레요 ? 만지지도 못해요” 촛불집회 등장한 장수풍뎅이 연구회 (“Beolleyo? Manjijido mothaeyo” Chotbul jibhui deungjanghan jangsu pungdengi yeongu-hoe). 이데일리 (edaily). November 16, 2016. https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=03178326612846376&mediaCodeNo=257, accessed November 13, 2021.

Lee, Doo Hyeong (이두형). 2021. L’origine des caractéristiques festives mouvements sociaux: étude de cas des « veillées aux chandelles » en 2016-2017 en Corée du Sud. Master’s thesis. Paris: Sorbonne Université.

Lee, Sang-hoon (이상훈). 2017. La transfiguration politique et le populaire réinventé : une réflexion sociologique sur les manifestations aux bougies en Corée du Sud (2016-2017). Sociétés, 138, no 4: 85-97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/soc.138.0085

Lee, Ji-ho (이지호), Hyun-woo Lee (이현우), and Bok-gyeong Seo (서복경). 2017. 탄핵 광장의 안과 밖: 촛불민심 경험분석 (Tanhaeg gwangjang-ui an-gwa pag: chotbul minsim gyeongheom bunseok). 서울 (Seoul): 책담 (Chaekdam).

Nanjang 난장 , http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/SearchNavi?keyword=%EB%82%9C%EC%9E%A5&ridx=0&tot=5, accessed November 11, 2021.

Neveu, Érik. 2019. Sociologie des mouvements sociaux. Paris: La Découverte. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/dec.neveu.2019.02

Park, Kwon-il (박권일). 2016. ‘천하제일깃발대회’의 의미 (‘Cheonha jeil gitbal daehoe’ui uimi). 한겨레 (Hankyoreh), December 7, 2016. http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion/column/773709.html, accessed November 13, 2021.

Tilly, Charles, and Sidney Tarrow. 2007. Contentious Politics. Colorado: Paradigm Publishers.