The Politics of the Have-Nots

Hae Yeon Choo is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Decentering Citizenship (Stanford 2016). She has translated works of critical social theory into Korean, including those by Audre Lorde, Patricia Hill Collins, and Judith Butler.

"This book is truly top-notch and relevant to understanding the state, citizenship, social change, social movements, violence, and democracy across the globe. Choo helps make sense of the loss of rights in this neoliberal era - and how to create solidaristic movements among those being marginalized. A masterpiece!" --Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts, Amherst "The Politics of the Have-Nots is a remarkable book that compels us to rethink the meaning of democracy from the perspective of those excluded from its promises. With eloquence and intellectual ambition, it shows how the grassroots struggles of marginalized people in South Korea and the Korean diaspora generate a powerful political theory that challenges the possessive logic of liberal democracy. Drawing on a rich archive of the language and lived experiences of the 'have-nots, ' the book illuminates how dispossessed people forge new forms of collective agency and democratic solidarity. A profound and inspiring work, it will reshape conversations about democracy, citizenship, and social movements." --Namhee Lee, author of The Making of Minjung: Democracy and the Politics of Representation in South Korea "Artfully crafted, The Politics of the Have-Nots presents a powerful and bold critique of democracy articulated by the have-nots themselves. Hae Yeon Choo brings her signature attentiveness to the lives of the dispossessed, uncovering a distinctively 'people's' vision of radical democracy that reshapes how we understand solidarity, democracy, and the meaning of the political in contemporary South Korea." --Hyun Ok Park, author of The Capitalist Unconscious: From Korean Unification to Transnational Korea "In a time when neoliberal states generate growing inequalities, The Politics of the Have-Nots shows, through five beautifully crafted accounts of grassroots activism, how the dispossessed, the exploited, and the dominated resist multiple forms of violence by building solidarity movements and inventing radical democratic forms. A powerful call for the optimism of the will." --Didier Fassin, College de France