Social Networks along the Migration Cycle between Vietnam and Korea: Opportunities or Obstacles for Temporary Labour Migrants?

Abstract

This thesis offers a comprehensive analysis of social networks applied to the specific case of temporary contract migration in an intra-regional (here, Asian) context. Although intra-Asian labour migration has been of increasing scholarly concern, the majority of such studies have focused on the economic and political aspects of migration, often in relation to development, to the exclusion of social networks for migrant workers. Given the significant impact of networks on the success of temporary migration for the individual migrants and their families, this thesis addresses important gaps in the study of international labour migration as well as the study of social networks. This thesis’ specific contribution is the provision of a comprehensive analysis of the roles and characteristics of social networks in relation to their spatiality and temporality, conceptually explored via social capital theory and network-based theory of social capital, and empirically informed via the case of temporary labour migration from Vietnam to South Korea. It approaches this topic by examining (1) how changes to the regulatory framework of contract labour migration between Vietnam and South Korea have resulted in the transformation of migrants’ agency, reflected in the forming and joining of different kinds of networks; (2) the advantages and downsides of the various types of networks involved at different stages of the ‘migration project’; (3) the complexity and changeability of networks engaged in assisting migrants along the entire migration cycle; and (4) the gendered aspects involved in these processes and dynamics. The study relies on a mix of qualitative methodologies in which individual migrant workers are the key units of analysis. The methods for data generation are in-depth interviews and participant observation from fieldwork conducted in Vietnam and South Korea in 2013 and 2015. The findings show that social networks of and for Vietnamese migrant workers, including interpersonal and institutional, are complex and varied. The fundamental purpose of migrant workers generally is to maximise their earnings during a short period of time; they attempt to seek support from different social networks during different phases of their migration. However, not all social networks are supportive and beneficial to the migrants. Some social networks provide opportunities for migrant workers to achieve their goals, while others might aim at exploiting these workers. In other words, assistance can be given free or bought at high costs. Trust and norms of reciprocity exist only among bonding ties, not on a larger scale such as among an entire co-ethnic migrant community. The study also points out that, due to gender segregation of the Korean labour market, men have more opportunities to find a job in this country by contract-based visas, while jobs for women are more limited than their male counterparts. This results in less access to institutional networks for female migrant workers. Since South Korea temporarily suspended contract-based migration from Vietnam, Vietnamese workers have moved to South Korea through other types of visas. The existence of alternative channels for migration to South Korea has gender implications with regard to the type of networks used: male prospective migrants tend to migrate to South Korea through overseas study or trading, whilst their female counterparts find it is easier to enter South Korea through sham marriages or cosmetic surgery. Finally, the study demonstrates the dynamism and the changing nature of social networks that migrants use throughout the migration cycle. Over time, migrants expand their networks locally and transnationally. In addition, the roles of the same networks and the position of migrant workers in these networks may change during different phases of migration. In the case of policies on recruitment of Vietnamese workers for the Korean labour market are often changed, the changing nature of networks also performs in the flexibility of formation of new networks serving for different channels of migration. This unique change of networks reflects is specific policy context of migration between Vietnam and South Korea for making money