On March 27, the Hamilton Lugar School’s (HLS) 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI)* hosted Dr. Celeste Arrington for a public lecture on her new book: From Manners to Rules: Advocating for Legalism in South Korea and Japan (Cambridge UP, 2025). Dr. Arrington, an expert on comparative politics with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan, is director of George Washington University’s Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) and co-director of the East Asia National Resources Center.
Dr. Arrington’s public talk highlighted various ways in which persons with disabilities in Japan and South Korea have gained new rights and access over the past few decades. Laws and regulations related to disabled persons have become more detailed and enforceable, and policymaking processes increasingly include persons with disabilities. By advocating for legislative changes and creatively using them, including through the courts, Dr. Arrington drew attention to the ways in which activists and lawyers in both countries are reshaping regulatory style and forging new opportunities for political engagement. The legalistic turn in disability-related policy marks a significant change in Japan and Korea, where officials relied on nonbinding guidelines, bureaucratic discretion, and vague laws. Prof. Arrington’s prepared remarks were followed by an audience Q&A featuring questions from students and faculty.
Over 30 students, faculty, staff, and community members turned out on a Friday afternoon to learn about and exchange views on this important topic, one of several that Prof. Arrington engages in her new book.
This event was co-hosted with HLS’ Institute for Korean Studies, and was co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Maurer School of Law’s Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession.
*The 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI) was launched at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies in 2018. Under the leadership of Founding Director and Hamilton Lugar School faculty member Adam Liff, from its base in the Midwest 21JPSI aims to invigorate and expand research, teaching, and programming on contemporary Japanese politics, society, and international (esp. U.S.-Japan) relations, and to educate, raise awareness, and debate policy responses to the various political, social, and foreign policy challenges that Japan faces today. For more information about 21JPSI and its upcoming events, please visit https://jpsi.indiana.edu/ and sign up for our event announcement mailing list.
Activities and opportunities for students like the event described would not be possible without external financial support. If you would like to support 21JPSI’s mission through a tax-deductible gift to the IU Foundation, please click here or contact HLS’ Senior Director of Development. (For the IU Foundation’s full disclosure statement, see go.iu.edu/89n.)