Social Movement as a Lived Theology of Social Justice: Catholic Prophetic Activism in Contemporary South Korea

Abstract

This thesis is a historically grounded ethnography that seeks to advance understanding of religion and social movement through the case study of a Catholic community in contemporary South Korea. The role of religion in social movements is a key theme in the study of civil rights and social justice activism in many parts of the world. This research expands ethnographic understandings of how prophetic activism, a form of faith-based social justice activism, is practiced on the ground on daily basis. In the context of this research, the concept of prophetic activism helps challenge how success and failure are perceived and analysed within the study of social movements, and explains how this Korean Catholic community was active in protesting several social movement issues continuously from the 1960s.

During my 24 months of fieldwork research affiliated with Seoul National University between 2013 and 2015 I used qualitative methods such as in-depth oral interviews and participant observation, supplemented in some cases by quantitative methods like questionnaires and surveys. I also mobilise ethnography to offer a fine-grained analysis of everyday politics practiced in a religious context. I draw on oral histories, field notes, and church and activist archival documents to illustrate contention among religious actors, clergy, and lay activists, and the state in South Korea.

This Catholic community members' activism encompasses a range of issues including environmental justice, economic justice, and peace activism, all of which they interpreted within a faith-based understanding of social justice. I narrow down on three particular social movements which I participated in during my fieldwork; the Gangjeong anti-base movement, the Miryang anti-nuclear movement and the movement surrounding the Sewol Ferry tragedy. When we look at individual issue-based protests, we see that these movements come and go, some end in defeat and others in victory and social change. However when we focus on communities involved in these movements, we can see that the activism of certain groups does not cease, but rather evolves from one issue to another. By focusing on an actor-based perspective, this thesis illustrates how and why activist communities are often involved in several issues at the same time.

Through my examination of the dialectic relationship between faith and political identity, I contribute to recent critical discussions on religion and social movements. By explaining how religious practices become protest, and how the rituals of daily mass become a practice of everyday politics, I also contribute to debates on protest and civil resistance. I further analyse how transnational solidarity counter-networks are fostered and maintained by religious communities across the boundaries of nation-states.