[Feature] The Rights of Minorities and the Reconstruction of Civil Rights in Korean Society / Paik Young-Gyung
The Quarterly Changbi 171, Spring 2016
Abstract
Paik Young-Gyung argues that the minority movements and discourses, which have been developed since 1987, are now under attack from the recent anti-democratic regression of the nation, and points out that the tendency to circumscribe them within the level of the protection of human rights is to blame. Thus, by investigating such questions as "who are the citizens in our society", and what restricts the application of the "human rights" in reality, she comes to the conclusion that the human/civil rights of minorities are no other than the critical task tied with the great change of Korean society in general. Just like her argument, "the responsibility to resist against the discriminating forces, deciding who can be the people worth living, and who are the citizens deserving the due respect, is for all of us, not just for the minorities."