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Journal Central

@article{ART001995514},
author={Yeonsil Kang and Lee, Young Hee},
title={Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea},
journal={Civil Society and NGO},
issn={1599-8568},
year={2015},
volume={13},
number={1},
pages={125-162}

TY - JOUR
AU - Yeonsil Kang
AU - Lee, Young Hee
TI - Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea
JO - Civil Society and NGO
PY - 2015
VL - 13
IS - 1
PB - The Third Sector Institute
SP - 125
EP - 162
SN - 1599-8568
AB - This paper analyzes the rise of asbestos victim's movement in South Korea in the late 2000s as a case of biological citizenship. By showing the close relationship between the re-characterization of asbestos from occupational hazard to an environmental risk, and asbestos victims' movement, it argues that environmental risk is an important trigger for the emergence of biological citizens. Dozens of former asbestos textile factory workers in Busan was first to recognize their shared biological feature: bodily damages from asbestos exposure in the factory. This 'asbestos identity' was expanded from Busan to the whole country, and from laborers to ordinary citizens, as more patients are found throughout the country, whose exposure sources are suspected to the widespread asbestos pollution, not limited to workplace exposure. Patients and supporting activists' outcry over the need for a proper compensation system for the victims shows how they demanded rights to life to the state government. Biological citizenship of Korean asbestos victims and their legal demands to the government, however, cannot be separated from the various national and international contexts, including the history of Korean environmental policy, asbestos compensation in other countries, and the influence of international organizations to domestic policy-making.
KW - Environmental risk;Biological citizenship;Asbestos;Asbestos Injury Relief Act;Environmental health;Patient activism
DO -
UR -
ER -

Yeonsil Kang and Lee, Young Hee. (2015). Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea. Civil Society and NGO, 13(1), 125-162.

Yeonsil Kang and Lee, Young Hee. 2015, "Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea", Civil Society and NGO, vol.13, no.1 pp.125-162.

Yeonsil Kang, Lee, Young Hee "Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea" Civil Society and NGO 13.1 pp.125-162 (2015) : 125.

Yeonsil Kang, Lee, Young Hee. Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea. 2015; 13(1), 125-162.

Yeonsil Kang and Lee, Young Hee. "Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea" Civil Society and NGO 13, no.1 (2015) : 125-162.

Yeonsil Kang; Lee, Young Hee. Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea. Civil Society and NGO, 13(1), 125-162.

Yeonsil Kang; Lee, Young Hee. Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea. Civil Society and NGO. 2015; 13(1) 125-162.

Yeonsil Kang, Lee, Young Hee. Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea. 2015; 13(1), 125-162.

Yeonsil Kang and Lee, Young Hee. "Environmental Risk and Biological Citizenship: The Case of Asbestos Victims’ Movement in Korea" Civil Society and NGO 13, no.1 (2015) : 125-162.