@article{ART003313477},
author={Ji-Young Choi},
title={Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -},
journal={Journal of Humanities},
issn={1598-8457},
year={2026},
number={100},
pages={439-478}
TY - JOUR
AU - Ji-Young Choi
TI - Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -
JO - Journal of Humanities
PY - 2026
VL - null
IS - 100
PB - Institute for Humanities
SP - 439
EP - 478
SN - 1598-8457
AB - This paper conceptualizes the political practices of protesters that emerged in the aftermath of the “Namtaeryeong Protest”as a politics of friendship articulated through the gifting of solidarity. It first outlines the composition of the protesters at Namtaeryeong and then examines forms of “solidarity-as-gift” through a comparative engagement with anthropological theories of the gift, particularly those of the potlatch and the Kula ring. Whereas the potlatch functions as an aristocratic and exclusionary ceremony organized around honor, and the Kula ring as a cyclical exchange governed by qualification and sequence, solidarity-as-gift at Namtaeryeong takes the form of non-cyclical and non-returning sharing enacted by those without qualification. Through this practice, an “oppositional we”is performatively constituted. Its eventfulness operates through a distinctive mode of forgetting: although protesters cannot claim what they give as their own, they come to recognize themselves as givers only retroactively, by becoming recipients in other sites of struggle. The paper further characterizes this politics of friendship through three contrasts: a politics of the here-and-now that weaves memory rather than deferring it to the future; a politics of sharing oriented against enmity and interest; and a politics of intersecting worldliness rather than intimacy. Ultimately, this politics gestures toward a democracy of hospitality grounded in intersectional equality.
KW - Namtaeryeong;Solidarity-as-gift;Politics of Friendship;Democracy;Hospitality;Equality;Intersectionality
DO -
UR -
ER -
Ji-Young Choi. (2026). Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -. Journal of Humanities, 100, 439-478.
Ji-Young Choi. 2026, "Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -", Journal of Humanities, no.100, pp.439-478.
Ji-Young Choi "Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -" Journal of Humanities 100 pp.439-478 (2026) : 439.
Ji-Young Choi. Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -. 2026; 100 : 439-478.
Ji-Young Choi. "Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -" Journal of Humanities no.100(2026) : 439-478.
Ji-Young Choi. Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -. Journal of Humanities, 100, 439-478.
Ji-Young Choi. Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -. Journal of Humanities. 2026; 100 439-478.
Ji-Young Choi. Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -. 2026; 100 : 439-478.
Ji-Young Choi. "Gifting Solidarity: A Politics of Friendship - Protesters at the Namtaeryeong Protest -" Journal of Humanities no.100(2026) : 439-478.
