Professor Haeran Shin presented the life tracking of middle-aged North Korean women, based on in-depth interviews and participant observations. Prof. Shin highlighted how the geopolitical characteristics, the division, and the peninsula, “constrain mobility sensitivity and imagination, impacting the definition of refugees and immigrants,” underlining the necessity of a comprehensive perspective that integrates geopolitical governance and mobility, and the immigrants’ lives. Additionally, Prof. Shin explained the complex ways in which gender, mobility, and geopolitics intersect to shape the experiences and opportunities of North Korean women and how the women strengthen themselves through the intersection of resistance and compliance with border controls. Prof. Shin also discussed the formal and informal networks in the lives of these women with the attendees.
Professor Haeran Shin’s research focuses on power dynamics, negotiation, and conflicts within diverse spatial and environmental participants, as well as the intersectionality among mobility, politics, and immigrant lives. Prof. Shin’s publications include books such as Who Governs the City, We Are All Joseonjok, and articles including “Culture-urban Economy Nexus Going Through Different Cultures: The Evolving Negotiation in Gwangju, South Korea,” and “How Does a Name Shape a Place? The Performativity of Urban Branding in the Case of Songdo, South Korea.”
