Contentious Kwangju

Reviews / Votes

Shin and Hwang splendidly interlace the complexity of the 5-18 Kwangju democratization movement, a defining moment in Korean history. * Journal of Asian Studies * This book deserves the attention of those with general interests in social movements and historical memory. More specifically, the volume should be carefully studied by students of democratic transitions, and by all observers of South Korea's recent history and contemporary social and political life. * American Historical Review * Combining vivid eyewitness reflections (part 1) with insightful scholarly analyses of the uprising's outcomes (part 2), the editors of this volume, Gi-Wook Shin and Kyung Moon Hwang, endeavor to provide a balanced and comprehensive reassessment of the Kwangju uprising. Together, these essays constitute a comprehensive study of the multiple and shifting meanings of this seminal event. This book is by far the most balanced and comprehensive English-language reassessment of the events. Contentious Kwangju offers a superb and multifaceted lecture on the politics of memory surrounding the Kwangju uprising and is required reading for anyone interested in the history of Korean democratization. * American Journal of Sociology * This is a fascinating book and I applaud the editors' efforts to examine the Kwangju massacre with some historical perspective. The passage of time has led to a more accurate view of those tragic events both with respect to the individual assessments of the impact on individual lives as well as the critical role it played in the democratization of Korea. * Korean Quarterly * Gi-Wook Shin presents a masterful overview of the events of May 1980, impressive for both its breadth and brevity. . . . Contentious Kwangju is a must-read for scholars of contemporary Korean history and those interested in issues of civil society, democratization, and contested visions of the past more generally. * Journal of Asian Studies * An excellent and indispensable work, a first of its kind, weaving vivid eyewitness accounts with a range of insightful scholarly perspectives that probe the multiple meanings of one of the great, defining moments in the history of Korean democratization. -- Carter J. Eckert, Harvard University