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On the basis of my long-term ethnographic research, I discuss the social formation of race and class by delineating some characteristics of the Korean experiences of labor migration within the system of global economy Since the early 1990s, there has been an increasing tendency in many small Korean factories to use migrant laborers who can be paid lower wages than the native Korean labor force. I examine the experiences of both migrants and Koreans from three different perspectives: policy, reality, and ideology. There are three points of significance. First, I discuss how under globalized capitalism a new social structure has formed within Korea. Second, I attempt to explain why the explosion of public discourse on multiculturalism does not reduce the racism suffered by migrant laborers in everyday life. Many Koreans still hold racist attitudes toward migrant laborers and perceive them as racially inferior to themselves. Third, I examine migrant laborers' limited agency as a way of reconsidering transnational characteristics which migrant laborers employ in Korea and their motherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines how Koreans have conceptualized rice throughout its history of agriculture. Different identities within the single physical conceptual category of rice; Cultural realm, function and meaning of rice; Emphasis on how rice encourages a spirit of cooperation and communal way of living; Indications of history and culture.

Focuses on the view of Westerners regarding the Korean society and culture. Description of the country; Evidence of changes in Korean society; Susceptibility of the country to sensitive social issues; Condition of politics and government.