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When Defection Meets Motherhood

North Korean Refugee Mothers in South Korea

When Defection Meets Motherhood cover

When Defection Meets Motherhood

North Korean Refugee Mothers in South Korea

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Pre-order. Available May 13 2027
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Description

More than 30,000 North Korean refugees now live in South Korea, the majority of them women-and many are mothers whose experiences have long been overlooked in both scholarship and public discourse.

When Defection Meets Motherhood centers on the lives of these refugees as mothers, tracing how they navigate the complex realities of parenting in a society where their practices are constantly measured against dominant ideals of “good motherhood.” Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research, Jeongeun Lee reveals how their identities are shaped not only by defection and resettlement, but also by displacement, transnational separation, and the emotional labor of reunion-often achieved through risky and costly means. By bringing refugee studies and motherhood studies into dialogue, this book sheds new light on North Korean refugee mothers and shows how they navigate the challenge of “becoming South Korean mothers,” adapting to cultural expectations while actively reshaping their maternal identities through resistance, negotiation, and reconfiguration of belonging.

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  • PDF/UA-2, 1.4
  • accessibility@bloomsbury.com

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The publication contains no hazards

Support for non-visual reading

Has alternative text descriptions for images

Navigation

  • Page list to go to pages from the print source version
  • Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
  • All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Note to Readers
Introduction: North Korean Defector Mothers in South Korea
Chapter 1: Contextualizing North Korean Defector Mothers in South Korea
Chapter 2: Joining South Korean Families: Marriage, Mothering, and the Stigma of Being a North Korean Women
Chapter 3: Beyond “Cultural Difference”: Structural Struggles and Strategies of Belonging
Chapter 4: Becoming Hakpumo: Learning South Korean Practices of Education, Care, and
Future-Making
Chapter 5: Motherhood across Borders: Separation, Care, and Transnational Mothering
Conclusion: When Defection Meets Motherhood in the Korean Context
References
Index
About the Author

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published May 13 2027
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Pages 208
ISBN 9798216463658
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 3 b/w images; 1 map
Series Korean Communities across the World
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

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