Nam Center Colloquium Series | Democratization and violence in the Korean context
Jonson Porteux, Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Studies, Kansai Gaidai University (Japan)
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
4:30-5:45 PM
Off Campus Location
Please note: This session will be held virtually EST through Zoom. This webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered the joining information will be sent to your email.
Register at:
https://myumi.ch/r895z
Capacity in violence is generally understood to be key condition of the state-building process. As capacity is achieved and a state gains supremacy over would-be competitors, the use of violence by the state is hypothesized to “wither-away,” especially in states that have made it into the democratic camp. However, my work demonstrates, theoretically and empirically, that conventional wisdom is inadequate, and that rather than withering away, political violence evolves according to the changing socio-political environment and varying tasks of the state.
Using principally cases stemming from South Korea, a high capacity, consolidated democracy as a lens for theory building and corroboration, my publications (and co-authored book project) chronicle the evolution of political violence, from the state`s mobilization of thugs to suppress opposition at the early stages of the state-building process, through its collaboration with violence specialists for developmental projects, to the manipulation of quasi-governmental organizations after democratization in the late 1980s. My research (and the topic of this discussion) looks at how political development, i.e. democratization, has produced new demands for—and constraints on—political violence and how post-authoritarian governments have responded.
Jonson N. Porteux received his PhD from the University of Michigan (Political Science) in 2013, with a focus on comparative politics and international relations, and a regional emphasis on East Asia. He publishes most extensively on the economic and political causes and consequences of violence and democratization. Most recently his work has been featured in Democratization and the Journal of East Asian Studies.
Register at:
https://myumi.ch/r895z
Capacity in violence is generally understood to be key condition of the state-building process. As capacity is achieved and a state gains supremacy over would-be competitors, the use of violence by the state is hypothesized to “wither-away,” especially in states that have made it into the democratic camp. However, my work demonstrates, theoretically and empirically, that conventional wisdom is inadequate, and that rather than withering away, political violence evolves according to the changing socio-political environment and varying tasks of the state.
Using principally cases stemming from South Korea, a high capacity, consolidated democracy as a lens for theory building and corroboration, my publications (and co-authored book project) chronicle the evolution of political violence, from the state`s mobilization of thugs to suppress opposition at the early stages of the state-building process, through its collaboration with violence specialists for developmental projects, to the manipulation of quasi-governmental organizations after democratization in the late 1980s. My research (and the topic of this discussion) looks at how political development, i.e. democratization, has produced new demands for—and constraints on—political violence and how post-authoritarian governments have responded.
Jonson N. Porteux received his PhD from the University of Michigan (Political Science) in 2013, with a focus on comparative politics and international relations, and a regional emphasis on East Asia. He publishes most extensively on the economic and political causes and consequences of violence and democratization. Most recently his work has been featured in Democratization and the Journal of East Asian Studies.
| Building: | Off Campus Location |
|---|---|
| Location: | Virtual |
| Event Type: | Livestream / Virtual |
| Tags: | Asia, Korea |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Nam Center for Korean Studies, International Institute, Asian Languages and Cultures, Department of Political Science |
