| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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In the last century, physical borders have shifted dramatically. New nationstates have emerged—and are still emerging—and these borders are under constant dispute through internal and external social forces.
As Aiwha Ong (1999) showed, nationalism in a globalized society is a complicated subject. Residence within the borders of the United States does not necessarily preclude Korean immigrants from homeland politics or maintaining economic and familial ties. In fact, I would argue that one way of demonstrating Koreanness is getting involved with events occurring in the ancestral home. The particularities of being involved and engaged in events and activities located in Korea (and therefore Korean)—the act of linking back to the nationstate of Korea—affirm physical and ideological links to the homeland and gains symbolic importance regarding ethnic identity, national identity, and transnational identity.
Perhaps due to the relative homogeneity of Korea as a nationstate, there is a strong correlation between ethnic identity and national identity. Furthermore, in a homogeneous society like Korea, ethnicity becomes less relevant than in a heterogeneous society like the United States, for other categories of differentiation such as class, gender, regionality, religion, and socioeconomic status gain more relevance. Hence, by learning about the nationstate and engaging in Korean nationalism in diaspora, Korean Americans are able to establish their ethnic identity within the United States.
Although Benedict Anderson’s (1983/2002) theory that nations are imagined communities is still relevant today (especially in the context of postcolonial nationstates and emergent nationstates formed from fragmented former republics) as Appadurai (1996) demonstrated, while nationstates are still salient entities, the notion of citizenship is transforming through globalization. This is especially true for ethnic groups in diaspora. Maintaining ties with family and friends in their home countries has become much easier than ever before, and immigration does not necessarily mean severing ties with home countries, nor does it mean adopting the host country as their new home in absolute terms.