Transnational Mobility and Identity in and out of Korea

Yonson Ahn is professor and chair of Korean studies at the Goethe University of Frankfurt.

This is the only book I know that examines such a diverse range of mobilities to and from South Korea in both historical and contemporary contexts. Most of the chapters are theoretically sophisticated with substantial ethnographic detail and should interest not only Korean Studies specialists, but scholars studying migration, diasporas, and race and ethnicity more broadly. I especially appreciated the emphasis on professional and marriage migration, and the return migration of adoptees and diasporic descendants to the ethnic homeland.

• Introduction: Transnational Mobility and KoreaYonson Ahn Part I: Transnational Mobility and Media 1. Media and Transnational Mobility of Korean WomenYouna Kim 2. Transnational Journey into Belonging: Korean American Adoptee’s Birth Search in Eric Sharp’s Middle BrotherJieun LeePart II: Migratory Mobility and Gender3. Nursing Care in Contact Zones: Korean Healthcare “Guest Workers” in GermanyYonson Ahn 4. Patriarchal Racialization: Gendered and Racialized Integration of Foreign Brides and Foreign Husbands in South KoreaSeonok Lee5. Doing Business in Contemporary Japan: The ‘New’ Wave of Korean Female ImmigrantsDukin LimPart III: Return Migration6. Living as “Overseas Koreans” in South Korea: Examining the “Differential Inclusion” of Korean American “Returnees”Stephen Cho Suh7. (Dis-)Connectedness and Identity Negotiation: Lived Experiences of Korean Chinese Students in South KoreaRuixin Wei8. “Uh… well, we’re… Russians”: Identity and Resistance to Ethnic Hierarchy Among Koryo Saram Diasporic Returnees in South KoreaChangzoo SongPart IV: Transnational Mobility from a Historical Perspective9. Korean Immigration to the United States, 1903-1905: A New Look at Japanese ImperialismWayne Patterson10. Korean Activists in Tokyo, The Asia Kunglun, and Asian Solidarity in the early 1920sDolf-Alexander Neuhaus11. Between Personal Choice and Social Exclusion: Diaspora Identities of Korean Marriage Migrants of the Korean War Period in the PhilippinesMinjung KimAfterword: Transnationalism Studies and its Challenges: The View from AsiaBrenda S.A. Yeoh