Women in transit

Risky journeys and precarious lives among North Korean female escapees in China

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9954587
AutoresSangmi Sung (0000-0001-5431-9293, City University of New York New York New York USA, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen61
Número3
Páginas287-300
Fecha de publicación2022-09-06
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Migration (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-7985 • E-ISSN: 1468-2435
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/imig.13049
OpenAlexW4295067296
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas22

This article seeks to unpack the gendered dynamic of transit migration through a case study of North Korean women escapees in China. Drawing on the notion of situated agency, which implies that agency is a kind of social embedding, this paper analysed 30 interview narratives of North Korean women to capture the structural factors that shape their risky journeys and precarious lives in transit. The content analysis reveals key gendered dimensions of transit migration. The feminized marketization in North Korea caused a dramatic increase in the outflow of women to China. The border‐crossing and deportation experiences of female escapees are precipitated by a complicated smuggling and trafficking industry. Despite their hyper‐precarious lifeworlds in the transit country, these women show varying degrees of resilience and resourcefulness that enable them to move on to their next steps of life. The findings broaden our understanding on the meaning of gendered mobility in transit migration shaped by the deterrent border regime

Agency (philosophy · China · Marketization · Narrative · Political science · Public transport · Social science · Sociology · Transit (satellite · China's Global Influence and Migration · Gender Studies · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies · Migration and Labor Dynamics