This research study aims to understand the roles of the young generation, mainly the students in the 1990 Gono-Andolon (Mass Democratization Movement) in Bangladesh and 1980 Gwangju Uprising in South Korea, find out the characteristics, analyze the ch...
This research study aims to understand the roles of the young generation, mainly the students in the 1990 Gono-Andolon (Mass Democratization Movement) in Bangladesh and 1980 Gwangju Uprising in South Korea, find out the characteristics, analyze the characteristics and compare their participation, the similarities and the differences in those two movements.
It shows that young people have helped drive the democratic movements in Bangladesh and South Korea, from protesting the established order to advancing new ideas. The students were on the frontlines of political and social transformations hoping to make the country a better place. Compared to adults the youth often have the largest social networks, which help them to transmission of ideas and mobilization. Also, the youth have more time and protest capabilities than older generations, giving them a greater chance to take a risk and fight the injustice and status quo. Altogether this makes youth participation in democratization movements an incredibly powerful element.
In this thesis the characteristics of the youth generations in Bangladesh and South Korea during each country’s respective uprisings are considered. The seven characteristics, which I found in these two uprisings are: youths’ dissatisfaction in the existing social and political culture, generational differences, historical experiences of the youth movement, effects of the higher education, limited democratic environment, ideology, and the students’ organizations’ solidarity. The outcome, similarities and the differences could not be explained solely by the youth characteristics. It’s also explained by the other factors, the history and background of each country.
In these two uprisings, both had culturally different features, and the mind and thinking of the students were different. The different social, cultural aspects influenced their participations differently, which resulted in different outcomes of the two uprisings. Youth anger fueled the movement in the Gono-Andolon, and it spread all over the country from Dhaka which made it possible to change the military regime and establish a democratic government within just 56 days after the uprisings started. The great sacrifices of the students along with the other citizens could not bring down the military regime immediate after the Gwangju Uprising, but the uprising’s spirits greatly influenced and impacted the future struggle for democracy in South Korea.