Even those who are familiar with the analysis of or have experience in protests are awed each time Seoul’s wide Sejong Avenue, from Kyŏngbok Palace to City Hall plaza, fills up with demonstrators. As I write this book review, in November 2016, some of the largest demonstrations in South Korea’s history are taking place across the country. The protesters demanding the president’s resignation are remarkably diverse. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Korean Peasants’ League, the two consistently important political challengers in the past two decades, are of course there, but so are artists, celebrities, middle-school students, part-time workers, and both underrepresented and privileged groups who at other times have few common interests. The fast organizing of large-scale events and the immediate sharing of slogans, banners, candles, and other resources, all witnessed in the November demonstrations, are what the sociologist Sun-Chul Kim would still recognize as the cohesive...
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