Time: 15.00-16.30, Monday 8.9.
Location: P545, Porthania, University of Helsinki (Yliopistonkatu 3)
Link for online participation: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/67060943106
Abstract
This article addresses a critical gap in the study of victimhood in historical grievance cases by examining the transformation from passive and powerless victims to active, empowered victim identities through litigation. Focusing on the aftermath of the 1947-1954 political repression and violence in Jeju Island, South Korea, known as the Jeju April 3 Incident, this study draws on archival research and in-depth interviews with survivors, bereaved family members, activists, and lawyers. It demonstrates how litigation plays a crucial role in empowering victims by allowing survivors and families to actively engage in the legal process, where they publicly perform, socialize, and symbolically mobilize their narratives. The Jeju April 3 trials show how survivors and bereaved families, once stigmatized as “rioters” or “families of rioters,” reclaimed their dignity and transitioned from passive subjects of injustice into active agents of social change. By highlighting how court proceedings serve as crucial spaces for marginalized individuals, this study contributes to the scholarship on legal mobilization and identity transformation, particularly in the contexts of state violence and historical grievances.
Bio
Irene Hyangseon Ahn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology at American University. Her research examines historical injustices, with a focus on how law intersects with past grievances. She is particularly interested in marginalized communities affected by state violence, with research areas spanning legal mobilization, transitional justice, and historical memory in East Asia and beyond. Her work has been published in Law & Social Inquiry and the American Journal of Cultural Sociology. She has received several honors for her scholarship, including the Outstanding Article Award from the Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section of the American Sociological Association, an Honorable Mention from the Asia Law and Society Association, and a paper award from the International Conference on the Sociology of Korea.