Modernity, Evil and Violence

Double-Edged Network Effects on Disclosing Traumatic Experiences Among Korean “Comfort Women”

“…The term “comfort women” is used to refer to females trafficked to the military brothels (known as “comfort stations”) operated by the Imperial Japanese polity during World War II (WWII) (Hicks, 1997; Hsu, 1993; Kimura, 2016; Lee & Crowe, 2015; Min, 2021; Min et al, 2020; Min & Lee, 2018; Nishino et al, 2018; Pilzer, 2014; Yoshimi, 2000). Hundreds of thousands of minors from countries including Korea, China, the Philippines, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, the Netherlands, and Australia were abducted across Asia–Pacific regions under Japanese occupation.…”

Specters of comfort women: Biopolitical colonial warfare, questions of humanity, and the haunted future

“…For example, Maki Kimura insists on the shortcomings of Arendt’s views with respect to non-Western culture and argues that “the discussion of the system of ‘comfort women’, particularly that in the 1990s, developed within […] a problematic perception of modernity, evil and the non-West […]. This [comfort system] is often considered to be uniquely Japanese, as the non-Western, pre-modern and barbaric Other” (2016: 68-9). Kimura places the “comfort women” debates within the tradition of the exploitation of women and their bodies in the system of licensed prostitution as “an intrinsic element of modernity” (2016: 69).…”

“…This [comfort system] is often considered to be uniquely Japanese, as the non-Western, pre-modern and barbaric Other” (2016: 68-9). Kimura places the “comfort women” debates within the tradition of the exploitation of women and their bodies in the system of licensed prostitution as “an intrinsic element of modernity” (2016: 69). I find this objection problematic for two reasons.…”