Dr. Hwasook Nam, University of Washington, “Making Sense of a Worker Self-Immolation in 1970s South Korea”

Hwasook NamDr. Hwasook Nam is a James B. Palais Endowed Associate Professor in Korea Studies at the University of Washington. In her seminar, she discusses the role of the worker Chun Tae-il’s self-immolation and death as a powerful discourse for dissident activists, who rebelled against the developmentalist regimes of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan. In particular, she examines the writing of Cho Young-rae which details the life of Chun Tae-il, showing a parallel between his story with the political changes of the 1970s in South Korea.

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