Narratives of Inclusion: Evidence from South Korea’s Migration Challenge

• In Event: Political Behaviors and Contentious Politics in Korea

Abstract

Migrant integration in its deepest form entails the inclusion of former “others” into the national community. While host governments have tried various messaging campaigns encouraging inclusion, there is surprisingly little direct evidence about the power of national narratives. Nations are sustained by different types of stories—cultural, economic, and political—that delineate the basis of membership. Which national narratives are effective at promoting inclusion? We test this using a series of survey experiments in the context of South Korea’s emerging migration challenge. South Korea represents both an empirically hard test and a substantively important case of a primarily ethnic nation facing a rising need for migration. In contrast to how the South Korean government has emphasized the economic value of migrants, we find that native citizens are most moved when migrants are framed as contributing to the political national story of South Korea’s democratic triumph.

Authors

• Gidong Kim, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

• Aram Hur, The Fletcher School, Tufts University