Global Asian City: Migration, Desire and the Politics of Encounter in 21st Century Seoul

Global Asian City develops a novel approach to exploring the relationship between migration and cities centered on the idea of desire as a social force that drives migration. Based on the author s two landmark studies, the book draws on more than 120 interviews of emigrants to Seoul including migrant workers from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, English teachers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, UK and USA, and international students at two elite Korean universities to offer a rich comparative account of the lives of different migrant groups on temporary status in the Seoul Metropolitan Region. The author focuses on the causes of international migration to Seoul, South Korea, and reveals how migration has transformed the city and nation, especially in the last two decades.

Global Asian City is a valuable source of information and fresh ideas for researchers in the fields of human geography, migration studies, urban studies, Asian/Korean studies, sociology, anthropology, and development studies.

Francis L. Collins, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. His research focuses on international migration and cities with a particular emphasis on the experiences, mobility patterns, and government regulation of temporary migrants in urban contexts. He is author of numerous articles in a range of international journals and is a co–editor of Migration and Diversity in Asian Contexts.