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Leprosy, Legal Mobilization, and the Public Sphere in J apan and S outh K orea
Author(s) -
Arrington Celeste L.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
law and society review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1540-5893
pISSN - 0023-9216
DOI - 10.1111/lasr.12092
Subject(s) - redress , mobilization , contest , political science , agency (philosophy) , comfort women , public sphere , law , public administration , sociology , politics , social science
This article addresses the question of what gets transmitted in cross‐national diffusion and why. It does so by analyzing the spread of rights‐based activism from J apanese to S outh K orean leprosy ( H ansen's disease) survivors in the 2000s. Previous scholarship would predict extensive diffusion of mobilizing frames and tactics, especially since K orean lawyers learned an effective legal mobilization template while working with J apanese lawyers to win compensation for K orean leprosy survivors mistreated by J apanese colonial authorities before 1945. Yet the form of subsequent activism by K orean leprosy survivors for redress from the K orean government differed from the original J apanese model. This case suggests the need for scope conditions on theories about isomorphism and the agency of brokers. In particular, it draws attention to how the structure of a country's public sphere—and especially its legal profession, news media, and activist sector—affects the feasibility of imported innovations related to activism and legal mobilization.