ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. In this book, the author takes on this task and investigates how social movements evolved after South Korea's democratic transition in 1987. He traces the changing patterns of interaction among major political actors, including social movement groups, political parties, the government, and transnational forces in order to analyze not only how contentious protests persisted in post-authoritarian South Korea, but also how and why the South Korean social movement sector emerged as a powerful political player that helped shape South Korea's tumultuous post-authoritarian trajectory. The author conceptualizes this unusual pattern of social movements as defiant institutionalization. He focuses on social movement cohesion derives from the importance of mobilization structures, or the relational field of formal organizations and informal networks, which provides the vehicle through which people mobilize and engage in collective action.
