Creating hierarchies of noncitizens: race, gender, and visa categories in South Korea

Building on Charles Tilly's theory of categorical inequality, this article examines how the proliferation of visa categories created to accommodate labour shortages in South Korea has led to the development of noncitizen hierarchies. Although contemporary immigration policies in liberal democracies do not explicitly exclude particular categories of people based on race and gender, they continue to apply discriminatory measures that reinforce social inequalities. In countries where noncitizens range from migrant labourers to native-born foreign residents, visa categories are critical determinants of a migrant's residency status, eligibility for state-sponsored rights, geographic mobility, and prospects for citizenship acquisition. This article analyzes three levels of interaction between de facto and de jure categorical differentiation: (1) the extension of racial, gendered, and class-based meaning to specific visa categories (or, how the de facto informs the de jure); (2) the institutionalisation of categorical inequality (or, how the de jure hardens the de facto); and (3) the structural effects (or, how the de facto and de jure shape patterns of incorporation). By examining the process by which seemingly race and gender-neutral categories and policies assume meaning and convey power, we are better equipped to explore emergent forms of citizenship and non-citizenship, racial politics, and social hierarchies.