The Mosque Conflict: Multiscalar Bordering and the Rise of Islamophobia in South Korea
Source: Taskforce for Peaceful Resolution of the Daegu Mosque Issue
Joowon Yuk, Kyungpook National University, South Korea
Wednesday, March 4, 20264:00 PM
Bunche Hall, Rm 10383
Muslim constitute a minuscule percentage of South Korea's population, yet Islamophobia has surged over the past decade. While the 2018 anti-refugee campaign against Yemeni asylum seekers marked a pivotal moment in the nationalization of Islamophobia, anti-Islamic ideologies have consistently permeated public discourse since the late-2000s. This dissemination has occurred through media campaigns, opposition to halal food initiatives, and resistance to mosque construction, often driven by the concerted efforts of the Protestant Right. At the heart of this phenomenon lies a tense oscillation between a multiculturalism deeply ingrained with a developmental ethos and an exclusionary, "nationals-first" nationalism. This talk investigates these dynamics through the controversy surrounding the construction of the Daruleeman Mosque in Daegu - a conflict that gained international notoriety for the grotesque display of pig carcasses at the site. Drawing on four years of participatory action research and ethnographic filed work (since 2021), this talk analyzes this local dispute as a site of 'multiscalar bordering.' The analysis argues that bordering in tis context operates through through overlapping processes: from multilayered exclusions enacted by residents, to the administrative maneuvers of local authorities, and the interventions of far-right Protestant groups linking local grievances to global anti-Islamic rhetoric. By tracing the interactions between these diverse actors, this talk reveals how boundaries of race, religion, and national belongings are being redrawn across different scales. Ultimately, the research expands the study of racism into non-Western contexts, demonstrating that Islamophobia is not merely a byproduct of cultural friction or a Western-imported phenomenon, but a strategic manifestation of a new Korean nationalism that easily overrides that fragile multicultural discourse that has developed with the increase of the migrant population.
Joowon Yuk is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Minorities and Human Rights at Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her scholarship interrogates the cultural politics of race, gender, and class. She published widely on racism, migration, and citizenship. Her most recent work includes the article "The Protestant Right and the Rise of Islamophobia in South Korea" (2025), published in Anthropology of the Middle East. She currently explores the historical entanglement of race and religion in Korea to develop a localized theorization of race within the field of Korean studies as a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute.
This is part of the "Koreans in the World" project hosted by UCLA's Center for Korean Studies. This event is supported by the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS Award Number: AKS-2023-SRI-2200001) as part of its Strategic Research Institute Program for Korean Studies.
Sponsor(s): Center for Korean Studies
