%0 Journal Article
%T Hiding in Plain Sight: Pseudonymity and Participation in Legal Mobilization
%A Celeste L. Arrington
%J Comparative Political Studies
%@ 1552-3829
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0010414018774356
%X How and when do people participate in sustained collective action via the courts? Previous research highlights group identity or resources and political opportunities but overlooks civil procedural rules¡¯ effects beyond the courtroom. This article explores how rules regarding privacy shape individuals¡¯ decisions about sustained participation. Fears of exposing one¡¯s identity deter participation, especially in the context of public trials. Yet, a paired comparison of litigation by victims of hepatitis C-tainted blood products in Japan and Korea reveals that court-supervised privacy protections, which were available in Japan but not in Korea, facilitate plaintiffs¡¯ participation inside and outside the courtroom. They ease plaintiff recruitment and enhance claimants¡¯ credibility. Counterintuitively, they also let claimants strategically shed pseudonymity to send a costly signal about their commitment to the cause. Theorizing ¡°pseudonymous participation¡± as an understudied mode of activism between full exposure and anonymity demonstrates that seemingly technical aspects of law have significant political consequences
%K Japan
%K Korea
%K law and society
%K legal mobilization
%K social movements
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0010414018774356