Springer The Gendered Politics of the Korean Protestant Right: Hegemonic Masculinity (Asian Christianity in the Diaspora)

This book provides a critical feminist analysis of the Korean Protestant Right’s gendered politics. Specifically, the volume explores the Protestant Right’s responses and reactions to the presumed weakening of hegemonic masculinity in Korea’s post-hypermasculine developmentalism context. Nami Kim examines three phenomena: Father School (an evangelical men’s manhood and fatherhood restoration movement), the anti-LGBT movement, and Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism. Although these three phenomena may look unrelated, Kim asserts that they represent the Protestant Right’s distinct yet interrelated ways of engaging the contested hegemonic masculinity in Korean society. The contestation over hegemonic masculinity is a common thread that runs through and connects these three phenomena. The ways in which the Protestant Right has engaged the contested hegemonic masculinity have been in relation to “others,” such as women, sexual minorities, gender nonconforming people, and racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.    Review “I am delighted to recommend Nami Kim’s well-argued new book. The book’s focus on Korea does not limit its importance, but invites readers to examine the arguments and influence of the Christian Right around the globe. This is a must read in the context of the US presidential election. The book deserves the attention of not only scholars in religion but also of feminists, politicians, and anyone interested in the question of religion in the public sphere.” (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor, the Divinity School, Harvard University, USA) “This pioneering book uses the critical lenses of gender, sexuality, transnationalism, and Islamophobia to examine the formation of hegemonic masculinity of the Protestant Right in South Korea. It offers a fresh angle to look at the impact of Protestant Christianity in South Korean society. I highly recommend it to readers interested in gender studies, transnational studies, and world Christianity.” (Kwok Pui Lan, author of Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology) “This is the first book-length critique of Korean Evangelicalism―or the Protestant Right, as Nami Kim calls it―from a feminist perspective. It is well researched and clearly presented, showing Kim’s deep knowledge of gender theories and cultural and religious developments in modern Korea. Her thesis rings true.” (Timothy S. Lee, Associate Professor of the History of Christianity, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, USA) From the Back Cover This book provides a critical feminist analysis of the Korean Protestant Right’s gendered politics. Specifically, the volume explores the Protestant Right’s responses and reactions to the presumed weakening of hegemonic masculinity in Korea’s post-hypermasculine developmentalism context. Nami Kim examines three phenomena: Father School (an evangelical men’s manhood and fatherhood restoration movement), the anti-LGBT movement, and Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism. Although these three phenomena may look unrelated, Kim asserts that they represent the Protestant Right’s distinct yet interrelated ways of engaging the contested hegemonic masculinity in Korean society. The contestation over hegemonic masculinity is a common thread that runs through and connects these three phenomena. The ways in which the Protestant Right has engaged the contested hegemonic masculinity have been in relation to “others,” such as women, sexual minorities, gender nonconforming people, and racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.   About the Author Nami Kim is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Spelman College, USA. Her co-edited volume (with Wonhee Anne Joh), Critical Theology against U.S. Militarism in Asia, is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan. Kim serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion.