Description
Book SynopsisA free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. Peruvian migrant workers began arriving in South Korea in large numbers in the mid 1990s, eventually becoming one of the largest groups of non-Asians in the country. Migrant Conversions shows how despite facing unstable income and legal exclusion, migrants come to see Korea as an ideal destination. Some even see it as part of their divine destiny. Faced with looming departures, Peruvians develop cosmopolitan plans to transform themselves from economic migrants into pastors, lovers, and leaders. Set against the backdrop of 2008's global financial crisis, Vogel explores the intersections of three types of conversions money, religious beliefs and cosmopolitan plansto argue that conversions are how migrants negotiate the meaning of their lives in a constantly changing transnational context. At the convergence of cosmopolitan projects spearheaded by the state, churches, and other migrants, Peruvians
Trade Review"An interesting book that makes a timely contribution to enhancing our understandings of the plurality of foreign experiences in East Asia. It offers readers excellent ethnography combined with interesting conceptual arguments." * Asian Ethnology *
"Deserves praise for vividly portraying the experiences of Peruvian migrants in Korea, which have not been explored so far, through thick description." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *
"Carries an academic value because of its contribution to studies on globalization." * H-LatAm *
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Migrant Conversions contributes new and innovative material to the study of Latin American-Asian migration. . . . [It] moves us closer to understanding the multilayered migration experiences of Peruvians in areas that have received little attention and is a delightful read." * International Migration Review *
"Vogel has written a highly readable book whose arguments are clearly laid out. It is an excellent classroom resource with which to engage students in discussing the multifaceted dimensions of global migrants’ experiences, and scholars of globalization and transnational migration will also learn much from it." * American Ethnologist *
