Nouveau-riche Nationalism and Multiculturalism in Korea

A media narrative analysis

Gil-Soo Han

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781138482562
• eBook ISBN: 9781317670599
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

The unprecedented economic success of South Korea since the 1990s has led in turn to a large increase in the number of immigrants and foreign workers in Korean industries. This book describes and explains the experiences of discrimination and racism that foreigners and 'new' Koreans have faced in a multicultural South Korea. It looks at how society has treated the foreigners and what their experiences have been given that common discourse about race in Korea surrounds issues of Korean heterogeneity and pure blood nationalism.

Starting with critiques of Korean scholarship and policy framework on multiculturalism, this book argues for the need to revisit the most fundamental aspect of multiculturalism: the host population's ability to respect new comers rather than discriminate against them. The author employs a critical realist understanding of racism and attempts to identify long-lasting institutional factors which make Korean society less than welcoming 'new' or temporary Koreans. A large number of new reportages are identified and systematically analysed based on the principles of grounded theory method. The findings show that nouveau-riche nationalism and pure-blood nationalism are widely practised when Koreans deal with 'foreigners'. As a newly industrialised and highly successful nation, Korean society is still in transition and treats foreigners according to economic standard of their countries of origin.

As one of the very first books in English about foreigners' experiences of Korean nationalism, multiculturalism and discrimination, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Sociology, Ethnic studies, Asian studies, Korean studies, Media studies and Cultural studies.

From immigrant workers to K-pop stars, Gil-Soo Han explores contemporary South Korean nationalism and multiculturalism. Theoretically ambitious and empirically rich, Nouveau-riche Nationalism and Multiculturalism in Korea should spark discussion and debate.

John Lie, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Gil-soo Han shows, in this richly documented work, that growing ethnic diversification in Korea in recent decades has stimulated an accompanying growth in discrimination against those with a perceived deficiency of “pure Korean blood” or with roots in societies perceived as less prosperous than Korea. This work is a warning that these new fault lines separating mainstream Koreans from migrant workers, permanent residents of non-Korean ethnicity, and even refugees from North Korea, if not addressed soon, may cause social unrest in the near future.

Don Baker, University of British Columbia, Canada

Nouveau-riche Nationalism and Multiculturalism in Korea

The unprecedented economic success of South Korea since the 1990s has led in turn to a large increase in the number of immigrants and foreign workers in Korean industries. This book describes and explains the experiences of discrimination and racism that foreigners and ‘new’ Koreans have faced in a multicultural South Korea. It looks at how society has treated the foreigners and what their experiences have been given that common discourse about race in Korea surrounds issues of Korean heterogeneity and pure blood nationalism.

Starting with critiques of Korean scholarship and policy framework on multiculturalism, this book argues for the need to revisit the most fundamental aspect of multiculturalism: the host population’s ability to respect new comers rather than discriminate against them. The author employs a critical realist understanding of racism and attempts to identify long-lasting institutional factors which make Korean society less than welcoming ‘new’ or temporary Koreans. A large number of new reportages are identified and systematically analysed based on the principles of grounded theory method. The findings show that nouveau-riche nationalism and pure-blood nationalism are widely practised when Koreans deal with ‘foreigners’. As a newly industrialised and highly successful nation, Korean society is still in transition and treats foreigners according to economic standard of their countries of origin.

As one of the very first books in English about foreigners’ experiences of Korean nationalism, multiculturalism and discrimination, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Sociology, Ethnic studies, Asian studies, Korean studies, Media studies and Cultural studies.

Gil-Soo Han is an associate professor of Communications and Media Studies in the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University, Australia. His research interests include migrant communities in Australia and Asia, ethnic media, religion and health and medicine.

Routledge Advances in Korean Studies

• 1 The Politics of Economic Reform in South KoreaA fragile miracleTat Yan Kong
• 2 Market and Society in KoreaInterest, institution and the textile industryDennis McNamara
• 3 Social and Economic Policies in KoreaIdeas, networks and linkagesDong-Myeon Shin
• 4 North Korea in the World EconomyEdited by E. Kwan Choi, Yesook Merrill & E. Han Kim
• 5 Legal Reform in KoreaEdited by Tom Ginsburg
• 6 Women, Television and Everyday LifeJourneys of hopeYouna Kim
• 7 Transformations in Twentieth-Century KoreaEdited by Chang Yun-Shik and Steven Hugh Lee
• 8 The Development of Modern South KoreaState formation, capitalist development and national identityKyong Ju Kim
• 9 Industrial Relations in KoreaDiversity and dynamism of Korean enterprise unions from a comparative perspectiveJooyeon Jeong
• 10 The Global Korean Motor IndustryThe Hyundai Motor Company’s global strategyRussell D. Lansbury, Chung-Sok Suh and Seung-Ho Kwon
• 11 Korean Workers and Neoliberal GlobalisationKevin Gray
• 12 Korea in the New AsiaEast Asian integration and the China factorFrancoise Nicolas
• 13 Foreign Direct Investment in Post-Crisis KoreaEuropean investors and ‘mismatched globalization’Judith Cherry
• 14 Korea Confronts GlobalizationEdited by Chang Yun-Shik, Hyunho Seok and Donald L. Baker
• 15 Korea’s Developmental AllianceState, capital and the politics of rapid developmentDavid Hundt
• 16 Capitalist Development in KoreaLabour, capital and the myth of the developmental stateDae-oup Chang
• 17 Political Protest and Labour Movements in KoreaSolidarity among Korean white-collar workersDoowon Suh
• 18 Retirement, Work and Pensions in Ageing KoreaEdited by Jae-jin Yang and Thomas R. Klassen
• 19 South Korea Under Compressed ModernityFamilial political economy in transitionKyung-Sup Chang
• 20 New Millennium South KoreaNeoliberal capitalism and transnational movementsEdited by Jesook Song
• 21 Human Rights Discourse in North KoreaPost-colonial, Marxist and Confucian perspectivesJiyoung Song
• 22 Digital Development in KoreaBuilding an information societyMyung Oh and James F. Larson
• 23 The Politics of Coalition in KoreaBetween institutions and cultureYoungmi Kim
• 24 South Korean Social MovementsFrom democracy to civil societyEdited by Gi-Wook Shin and Paul Chang
• 25 IT Development in KoreaA broadband nirvana?Lee Kwang-Suk
• 26 Contemporary South Korean SocietyA critical perspectiveEdited by Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra and Hyo-Je Cho
• 27 De-Bordering KoreaTangible and intangible legacies of the Sunshine PolicyEdited by Valérie Gelézeau, Koen De Ceuster and Alain Delissen
• 28 Korea’s Retirement PredicamentThe ageing tigerEdited by Thomas R. Klassen and Yunjeong Yang
• 29 Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North KoreaThe leader stat...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Epigraph 1
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph 2
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Theoretical perspectives on racial discrimination
• 3 A struggle to legislate anti-racial discrimination law in Korea A dissident grassroots' perspective
• 4 Migrant workers The modern slavery
• 5 Korean nationalism and foreign professionals
• 6 Children of international marriage A future asset or just the subject of discrimination?
• 7 ‘What more do you want?’ Deserted North Korean refugees
• 8 K-pop nationalism Celebrities and acting blackface in the Korean media
• 9 Concluding remarks
• Index