Re-conceptualizing the enclave in an era of transnationalism: Ethnic solidarity and upward mobility in the Korean enclave in Beijing

Abstract

This dissertation uses ethnographic research conducted between 2010 and 2011 as well as original survey data (n=800) to examine how the transnational enclave impacts opportunities for upward mobility and formations of ethnic solidarity among ethnic Koreans in Beijing. Specifically, I challenge how the key principles of the enclave hypothesis differs within the transnational context by examining four empirical field sites: 1) the space of everyday life within the enclave (chapter 5), 2) the ethnic church (chapter 6), 3) the individual experiences of first-generation South Korean and third- and fourth-generation Korean Chinese ethnic entrepreneurs (chapter 7), and 4) the South Korean chaebol (conglomerate) firm in Beijing (chapter 8). To briefly summarize my findings, my project demonstrates that the mechanisms of solidarity and trust touted in former theories on the ethnic enclave are largely absent in the Korean transnational enclave in Beijing. Frequent transnational movement and disparities in class have led to bifurcated social networks, residential segregation, and institutional fragmentation. In the absence of ethnic solidarity, migrants must rely on their ability to move flexibly across a broad range of contexts both inside and outside the enclave to gain access to the necessary resources to sustain their entrepreneurial activities. To this end, Korean Chinese rural migrants, who are able to act as cultural intermediaries between South Korean and Han Chinese societies, are best able to utilize the opportunities available in the transnational enclave, whereas their first-generation South Korean counterparts, despite their high levels of human capital, largely fail due to their inability to form guanxi (loosely translated as social connections) with local Chinese bureaucrats. The enclave, by sequestering the South Koreans within their own community, largely perpetuates their social isolation from Chinese society and their continual dependence on Korean Chinese intermediaries to conduct business.