UC Irvine

This dissertation comprises three papers that examine why people engage in activism after experiencing unanticipated family loss and how their activism endures in the long term. South Korea provides a compelling context where victims’ families affected by various disasters collaborate in activism, expanding our understanding of participation in social movements. Their collective actions deviate from typical predictors of participation in social movements: they have little or no prior experience in activism, no preexisting connection to mobilizing structures, and no prospective benefits or incentives to gain. On the contrary, the material, emotional, and physical costs of participation are extremely high. Using qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and participant observation, this project examines how bereaved families’ activism begins and sustains over time.Part 1 examines their involvement from a processual perspective and demonstrates that families affected by varying disasters undergo similar stages. These entail disillusioning experiences in which their previously-held trust in the state and society is shattered. Family members need to conduct self-investigation into their incidents, during which they find allies and broaden their perspectives on the structural causes of their losses. Through this process, families reinterpret the cause of their loss from personal misfortune to a systemic failure and join broader social movements to rectify the flawed system. Central in this process are the families’ emotions, which evolve from personal grief to social obligation. Part 2 illustrates three situational emotions that emerge as circumstances unfold in the aftermath of losses: a sense of guilt, gratitude, and obligation. Initially, bereaved families grapple with guilt for having neglected societal problems in the past and become determined to address the systemic causes. As they engage in collective actions, support from allies heightens a sense of gratitude, fueling further engagement. Lastly, a sense of obligation toward the public to forestall similar incidents sustains the families’ involvement in activism, from which derives what I refer to as the victims' sense of social indebtedness. Bereaved families’ intent to atone for their guilt, repay the support they have received, and fulfill their duties helps prolong their engagement. Part 3 examines the consequence of prolonged endurance through the lens of gender. Focusing on the grassroots activism carried out largely by mothers of the Sewol Ferry victims in their local community, this paper demonstrates how their once-undervalued grassroots activities sustain their activism despite declining political momentum. Many mothers’ commitment to labor-intensive, interactive activities through developing various skill sets and volunteering was initially considered auxiliary. However, over time, these activities played a crucial role in sustaining and redirecting their activism, resulting in the shift of organizational leadership.