NEOLIBERAL LABOUR MIGRATION REGIMES AND CHANGING CLASS IDENTITIES OF MIGRANTS: THE CASE OF NEPAL-SOUTH KOREA MIGRATIONS

Abstract

This thesis examines changing class identities of Nepalese migrants in the processes of Nepal-South Korea temporary labour migrations. Focusing on the Employment Permit System in Korea, which is characterised as a neoliberal immigration regime, I look at class identities of migrants from three perspectives which are interconnected one another; transnational governmentality, temporalities and spatialities. Firstly, I analyse the pre-departure processes that are managed by both states. I demonstrate how these processes affect the construction of anticipated identities of middle-class prospective Nepalese migrants as docile underclass workers in Korea. Secondly, I examine the temporalities of class identities in assessing the motivations for migration, the temporary migration regime, and the subjective experiences of migrant workers in Korea. Lastly, I analyse the spatialities of class identities by examining the ways in which Nepalese migrants produce transnational spaces and exploring how their class identities are negotiated in these spaces.