Past Events at the Centre for the Study of Korea
March 2018
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Friday, March 2nd Bordering Families: Kinship Migration and Immigration Bureaucracy in South Korea
Date Time Location Friday, March 2, 2018 2:00PM - 4:00PM Seminar Room 208N, 1 Devonshire Place + Register for this Event Print this Event Bookmark this Event
Description
ABSTRACT
About 45% of foreign residents in South Korea are women, and the majority of them come to South Korea on kinship-related legal status. This talk investigates gendered bordering practices in “temporary ethno-kinship visa programs” which requires migrants to provide proof and justification to immigration authorities when extending their visas. Using extensive ethnographic data, this talk will demonstrate how migrants experience and contest such bordering practices in courts, immigration offices and other government agencies, as well as in their daily lives. Through an in-depth focus on marriage migrants from Vietnam and co-ethnic migrants from China, this talk will discuss how two groups of migrant women make contested kinship claims to the South Korean state:. Using Balibar’s notion of “being a border” and Zelizer’s ideas about the intimate economy, this talk conceptualises the border as a dynamic site where notions of membership, family and speculative capital are contested. Focusing on the technical aspect of defining and adjudicating family through immigration measures will allow us to see the performative account of “governmentality” and procedural contradictions in the grey areas of the law. It will also enable us to analyse state actions and migrant responses to them organically as each traverses justifications of family, immigration and economy.BIOGRAPHY
Sohoon Lee is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Toronto. Her postdoctoral research project explores the ‘informal’ politics between the migrant care workers and their employers in the liminal space of immigration, social protection and labour. Building upon her PhD thesis, she is currently working on a book manuscript on the temporality of ethno-kinship migration in South Korea through a combination of ethnography, in-depth personal and group interviews and analysis of laws and policies. Her research interests also include multicultural (damunhwa) policies in South Korea, return migrants and bottom-up development in Indonesia, and NGO-Trade Union relationship in migrant movement in South Korea. Prior to her PhD studies, she worked at Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in areas of ASEAN human rights mechanisms, indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia, and documentation of human rights violation. She has also undertaken consultancies with UN Women, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), and other NGOs to write on topics of migrant domestic workers, intersectionality and discrimination and labour rights protections in South Korea.
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Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.
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Saturday, March 10th Community Screening of Variety Survival Talkshow 버라이어티 생존토크쇼 & Conversations with the Director JO Se-young and Korean feminist activist-scholars
Date Time Location Saturday, March 10, 2018 2:15PM - 5:30PM External Event, Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex AvePrint this Event Bookmark this Event
Description
*******TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION HERE: https://variety-survival-talkshow.eventbrite.ca/
*Open to Public; Tickets are free of charge; Bilingual (English subtitle & Korean-English interpretation for the panel is provided) (감독과의 대화: 한국어/영어 통역)
Title: Variety Survival Talkshow 버라이어티 생존토크쇼
Director: JO Se-young
Genre: Documentary
Production: South Korea 2009
Running time: 72 min (panel and open Q&A the director will follow screening)
Doors Open: 2:15pm
Screening Starts: 2:30pm
Audio: Korean (English subtitles)Variety Survival Talkshow 버라이어티 생존토크쇼, an award-winning documentary, follows the narrative of South Korean women who have come together to break the silence about sexual violence. It is a story of survival and resilience, but also desires, intimacy, and collective solidarity for social change. On the International Women’s Day in 2018, in the #MeToo moment across national borders, we hope this documentary and the discussion with the Director Jo Se-young, together with feminist activist-scholars Youn Joung Kim and Hae Yeon Choo, will inspire us think through what women’s citizenship means, reminding us how the personal is ever more political.
Director JO Se-young has directed numerous critically-acclaimed feature documentaries with a focus on gender and sexual politics in South Korea. She made her debut in film directing in 2005 with . She received the Jinbo Award at the Seoul Independent Documentary Film and Video Festival with (2009). She also won the White Goose Award at the DMZ Korean International Documentary Film Festival and other awards with , on women’s experiences with abortion.
Youn Joung Kim is a feminist activist-scholar and Ph.D. student in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University. She appears in this documentary as a member of the feminist group against sexual violence in South Korea. Her research interests revolved around sex work and U.S. militarization in South Korea.
Hae Yeon Choo is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Affiliated Faculty of the Asian Institute and the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Decentering Citizenship: Gender, Labor, and Migrant Rights in South Korea (Stanford University Press, 2016) on labor and marriage migration and the question of migrant rights and citizenship in South Korea.
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.
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Friday, March 16th INDePth Conference 2018: Asian Cities
Date Time Location Friday, March 16, 2018 10:00AM - 7:00PM The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility, 1 Devonshire Place (Devonshire Pl. & Hoskin Ave.) + Register for this Event Print this Event Bookmark this Event
Description
INDePth is an award winning annual student-run conference hosted by the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto.
We are excited to present this year’s conference theme “ASIAN CITIES”.
In order to analyze ASIAN CITIES, we are using multidisciplinary—especially historical, anthropological, and geographical—theoretical frameworks to present our theme in a comprehensively textured manner. We challenge current narratives which present the development of Asian Cities as a standardized model by problematizing the idea that these spaces across the continent represent a similar type of growth.
Conference attendees will gain insight into how national and global discourse intersects with and shapes the standardized model of development of Asian Cities. We also focus on thinking critically about the structures and actors supporting or countering the progress of this standardized model.
We hope to disrupt these notions and offer a more holistic view of these living and breathing spaces. We do so by showcasing the transformative, evolving subjectivities and experiences of those who actively inhabit, build, and create Asian Cities.
Please join us for an invigorating day of panel speakers and workshop discussions while we explore critical perspectives of cities from the ground up!
Check out our website for more detailed information about the conference themes, conference agenda, and conference speakers.
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Speakers by topic:
INTERPRETATIONS OF MODERNITY
Shiaoshiao Chen, Undergraduate Student, Contemporary Asian Studies and Anthropology
Tori Sheldon, PhD Candidate, Anthropology
Dr. Kristin Bright, Assistant Professor, AnthropologyCONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF THE CITY: URBAN VS RURAL
Deniz Yilmaz, Undergraduate Student, Diaspora and Transnational Studies, Political Science
Zixian Liu, PhD Student, Department of History
Dr. Tong Lam, Associate Professor, History; Director, Global Taiwan Studies ProgramMIGRATIONS AND SOLIDARITIES
Anna Aksenovich, Undergraduate Student, Anthropology and Religion
Siddhartha Sengupta, Undergraduate Student, Political Science
Symon James-Wilson, Research Assistant, Department of Geography and OISE
Dr. Deborah Cowen, Associate Professor, Geography and Planning
_____________INDePth Conference 2018: ASIAN CITIES
March 16, 2018, 10:00AM-7:00PMPROGRAM:
10:00am – 10:30am: Light Breakfast and Registration10:35am – 10:55am: Opening Remarks
10:35am – 10:40am: Professor Rachel Silvey
10:40am – 10:50am: Co-Chairs10:55am – 11:55am: Topic 1: Interpretations of Modernity (Student: Shiaoshiao Chen; PhD Candidate Tori Sheldon; Professor Kristin Bright)
11:55am – 12:10pm: Topic 1 Q&A12:10pm – 1:30pm: Lunch
12:40pm: Film Screening – PUSO NG LUNGSOD, by filmmaker Ilang-Ilang Quijano; Supported by the York Centre for Asian Research as part of their Emerging Asian Urbanisms Series1:35pm – 2:35pm: Topic 2: Conceptualizing the City: Urban vs Rural (Student Deniz Yilmaz; PhD Student Zixian Liu; Professor Tong Lam)
2:35pm – 2:50pm: Topic 2 Q&A2:50pm – 3:05pm: Coffee Break
3:10pm – 4:10pm: Topic 3: Migration and Solidarities (Student: Anna Aksenovich; Symon James-Wilson, Research Assistant, Department of Geography and OISE; Professor Deb Cowen)
4:10pm – 4:25pm: Topic 3 Q&A4:25pm – 4:30pm: Break out into Groups for Workshops
4:30pm – 5:30pm: Workshops: Topics 1-35:35pm – 5:55pm: Co-Chairs Closing Remarks
6:00pm – 7:00pm: Reception
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.
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Monday, March 26th Youth Politics and Activism in East Asia: Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong
Date Time Location Monday, March 26, 2018 2:00PM - 5:00PM The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility, 1 Devonshire Place (Devonshire Pl. & Hoskin Ave.) + Register for this Event Print this Event Bookmark this Event
Description
In a region where the Cold War has not ended; in a world where liberalism seems to be losing its appeal–how and why do young people enter politics in East Asia’s dynamic societies? How do these young political activists and their huge followers engage issues of colonial legacies, contested sovereignty, and global capitalism?
In this roundtable conversation, prominent young leaders LIN Fei-Fan 林飛帆 (Taiwan), EKyeong KWAK 곽이경 (South Korea), and Jeffrey NGO 敖卓軒 (Hong Kong) will discuss their mutual concerns and shared aspirations in this generational struggle.
Moderator: Ching-Fang HSU 許菁芳 (PhD Candidate, Political Science, UofT)
Faculty discussants:
Jennifer Chun (Sociology, UofT)
Tong Lam (History, UofT)Interpreter for EKyeong KWAK 곽이경: Ju Hui Judy HAN (Gender Studies, UCLA)
Event Details:
PANEL DISCUSSION: 2:00 – 4:00PM
RECEPTION: 4:00 – 5:00PM
—Panelist Bios:
Ekyeong KWAK
EKyeong Kwak is the Director of External Relations & Solidarity at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). In 2016-17, Kwak served on the coordinating committee for the Emergency National People’s Action for the Dismissal of Park Geun-Hye which mobilized millions of candlelight protesters over 6 consecutive months, leading to the impeachment of South Korea’s former president. In her capacity at KCTU, Kwak has worked in solidarity with human rights and social justice movements including the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster and Nam-ki Baek, a former student-activist-turned-farmer who was killed by a high-power police water cannon at a national labour rally. Kwak is a leading queer social justice activist, spearheading efforts to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other sexual minority and gender non-conforming persons. She has previously served as the Policy Director of the National Korean Women’s Trade Union and the Chairperson of Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea.LIN Fei-fan (林飛帆)
Lin Fei-fan is one of the leaders of Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement and the founding president of the Taiwan March Foundation, which mainly advocates for the rectification of the Referendum Act of Taiwan. He is also a member of the Network of Young Democratic Asians (NOYDA), formed by young activists across Asia in April 2016. He began as a student activist during the 2008 Wild-strawberry Movement, and he participated in the Anti-Media Monopoly Movement in 2012 among many other civil movements. He also contributed to several of the campaigns of the third-parties’ candidates during the election of 2016. He received his MA degree in Political Science from National Taiwan University in 2017 and is currently undertaking another graduate degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK.Jeffrey NGO
Jeffrey Ngo is a visiting scholar jointly affiliated with the Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library and the Munk School of Global Affairs who studies the history of Hong Kong’s sovereignty. He is also chief researcher for Demosisto, the Hong Kong youth pro-democracy political party. His writing has appeared in, among others, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from New York University.
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.