Does Feminism Represent 'Immigrant Women'?: Examining the Political Representation of Feminist Protests in South Korea Using Protest Event Analysis

• In Event: Feminist Perspectives and Social Work

Abstract

This presentation elucidates which 'women' are represented in Korean feminism, including 'immigrant women,' and by whom and to what extent, through a machine learning-based protest event analysis. Many literatures have pointed out that organizations and activism representing 'women' have not always included minority women(Hughes 2011; Schuller 2021). For example, married, white, and cisgender women have often been represented, while single women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals have been excluded(English 2019, 2021; Evans 2016). Thus, some have argued that a Black feminist or queer feminist perspective highlights the need for minority women in positions of group membership and leadership(e.g. Christoffersen and Emejulu 2023).

However, from a political science perspective on political representation, the presence of leaders or members with certain attributes does not necessarily guarantee that the political organization truly represents those attributes(Celis et al. 2008; Celis 2008; Shin 2020). Moreover, in 'homogeneous' societies with very few minorities, it's unclear under what conditions civil society and the third sector adequately represent minority voices.

Therefore, this study tackles this challenge by using South Korea as a case study, where the number of immigrants has rapidly increased in recent years. In South Korea, feminism has become more radicalized, and young feminists have emerged who openly discriminate against TERF and Muslim women(Lee 2023; Yang and Lee 2022). However, it remains uncertain whom feminists, including women's organizations, represent, and whom they may exclude. To address this, I employ feminist newspapers and local newspapers from various regions, using machine learning to analyze protest events(e.g. Lorenzini et al. 2021). This approach provides insights into the feminist movements that have emerged across different parts of South Korea over an extended period. It also allows for an examination of which groups and movement actors represent different attributes of 'women' and whether there have been changes in their proportions over time. Furthermore, I quantitatively assess the extent to which the issue of 'immigrant women,' a particularly small minority in Korean society, is discussed by feminists.

The results of the examination reveal that, although there are ideological differences among feminist organizations in Korea, these differences do not necessarily impact the representation of 'immigrant women' and other minority attributes. Moreover, various factors beyond the attributes of constituent members influence the interests expressed by feminists. This study thus contributes to the ongoing debate on the relationship between the descriptive and substantive representation of women in civil society.

References

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Author

• Kazuhiro Terashita