The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement

dc.contributor.advisorScanlon, Helen
dc.contributor.authorKalula, Musindosi
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-02T09:08:20Z
dc.date.available2024-05-02T09:08:20Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.date.updated2024-04-30T13:23:35Z
dc.description.abstractThe term ‘comfort women' refers to victims who were abducted and forced into a system of sex trafficking that started as early as the 1930s until the end of World War II. The system was sanctioned by the Japanese government which saw its Imperial Army abducting an estimated 200,000 women and girls from nations including South Korea, China, the Philippines and Singapore. Although almost a century has passed since the system's dissolvement, it continues to be a topic of contention, particularly between South Korea and Japan, as post-colonial issues have spilled over into bilateral disagreements. Civil society organisations in South Korea have been influential in catapulting the issue onto the international stage in order for the ‘comfort women's' demands for reparations, mainly in the form of compensation and an official state apology from Japan, to be met. Additionally, organisations such as the Korean Council, have pushed for transnational women's rights to be recognised. This dissertation puts forward an important question: For a relatively successful transnational movement, how, particularly in South Korea, have demands not been met? This dissertation analyses the role a nationalist lens can create when dealing with a women's rights issue. Feminist activism grew exponentially during the 1970s and 1980s which contributed to bringing awareness to transnational women's issues such as the ‘comfort women' system. However, in the context of South Korea, there is a growing faction of nationalist activism that has placed post-colonial symbolic imagery onto the ‘comfort women' – resulting in a simplification of their trauma and demands to an ‘us' versus ‘them.'
dc.identifier.apacitationKalula, M. (2023). <i>The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39558en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKalula, Musindosi. <i>"The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39558en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKalula, M. 2023. The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39558en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Kalula, Musindosi AB - The term ‘comfort women' refers to victims who were abducted and forced into a system of sex trafficking that started as early as the 1930s until the end of World War II. The system was sanctioned by the Japanese government which saw its Imperial Army abducting an estimated 200,000 women and girls from nations including South Korea, China, the Philippines and Singapore. Although almost a century has passed since the system's dissolvement, it continues to be a topic of contention, particularly between South Korea and Japan, as post-colonial issues have spilled over into bilateral disagreements. Civil society organisations in South Korea have been influential in catapulting the issue onto the international stage in order for the ‘comfort women's' demands for reparations, mainly in the form of compensation and an official state apology from Japan, to be met. Additionally, organisations such as the Korean Council, have pushed for transnational women's rights to be recognised. This dissertation puts forward an important question: For a relatively successful transnational movement, how, particularly in South Korea, have demands not been met? This dissertation analyses the role a nationalist lens can create when dealing with a women's rights issue. Feminist activism grew exponentially during the 1970s and 1980s which contributed to bringing awareness to transnational women's issues such as the ‘comfort women' system. However, in the context of South Korea, there is a growing faction of nationalist activism that has placed post-colonial symbolic imagery onto the ‘comfort women' – resulting in a simplification of their trauma and demands to an ‘us' versus ‘them.' DA - 2023 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Political Studies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2023 T1 - The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement TI - The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39558 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/39558
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKalula M. The comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2023 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39558en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066Eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studies
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.subjectPolitical Studies
dc.titleThe comfort women: A study exploring the nuances of the movement
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
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