Space, place and scale in contentious politics: The case of greenbelt movements in South Korea between 1998 and 1999

This research investigates the how geography is implicated in contentious politics, using the controversy over greenbelts---strictly regulated open spaces around 14 major South Korean cities. The introduction of a neoliberal land policy that proposed partial elimination and easing of regulations of greenbelt spaces precipitated the controversy. Different social groups mobilized in support or, or opposition to this policy. The major contestants were the national alliances of NGOs and supporting intellectuals called Peoples Action for Saving Greenbelts (PASG) and the greenbelt residents and landowners represented by Korea Greenbelts Association (KGA).;This research extends theories of social movements by showing how space, place and scale shape contentious politics. Actors in this controversy employed different geographical imaginations of the greenbelts in the construction of their grievances and collective action frames. Promoting greenbelts as public environmental assets, the PASG framed its mobilization in terms of environmental preservation. In contrast the KGA considered greenbelts as property assets, framing their mobilization in terms of private property rights. These different geographical imaginations of greenbelts also generated different definitions of injustice among opponents and proponents.;Differences in collective action frames also influenced the choice of mobilization strategies of the contestants and the scale of mobilization. In terms of the scale of mobilization and outcomes, KGA, simultaneously operated at the national and local scale, and continues to exert its influence in each locality. In contrast, the PASG, with extensive and influential alliances, successfully mobilized at the national but not at the local scale. While the PASG movement was unsuccessful in stopping the implementation of the policy, its mobilization further enhanced the importance of the national scale in social movement organization in Korea. Furthermore, PASG mobilization helped bring about the establishment of a new scale, a regional scale, in the Korean planning system.