Religion and Mothers in the Discursive Construction of Multicultural Korea

Responding to the state and civil society’s pro-multicultural actions, Korean discourses on immigrants have changed over time from unfavorable attitudes to positive, sympathetic, and supportive discourses. However, resentful sentiments about multicultural families and immigrants are noticeable from anti-multicultural online communities. In making multicultural nations, mothers, who participate in civic actions, have an integral role in promoting pluralistic discourses and democratic values characterized by openness, flexibility, and empathy. Comparing two groups of evangelical Protestant mothers, namely, transnational and domestic mothers, this study examines how mothers perceive multicultural families and children, what strategies they use in making discursive boundaries to include immigrants, and how they contribute to the making of multicultural Korea.