| This dissertation tests Esman and Uphoff's model in the context of the 1980s' South Korean student movements. Esman and Uphoff's horizontal networks become linkages established between student groups, church groups, labor groups, intellectuals, and local and central government authorities in the region.;The second hypothesis attempts to test the following: Given constant level of regime repression, the density of Esman and Uphoff's horizontal linkages is positively correlated to the level of middle-class participation in the student movement. The results of event-driven tracing of the political and social processes surrounding the South Korean student networks in 1983-1987 suggest that the statement is false. Middle-class participation did not happen as a result of students networking with the middle class and students' success in mobilizing it through the creation of horizontal linkages. Alienation was a better characterization of the students and middle-class relations, not networking.;The first hypothesis tests whether student protesters can create inclusive horizontal networks with civic groups in their region for the middle class to join when regime repression is high. Using the Kwanju uprising case in 1980, the dissertation finds that the density of Esman and Uphoff's horizontal networks had, in fact, increased with repression. |
