A01=Hannah Kim
American missionaries
American studies
Asia
Asian American history
Asian history
Author_Hannah Kim
Category=JBFH
Category=JPS
Category=NHF
Category=NHTW
Cold War
cultural studies
diplomatic history
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnic studies
foreign policy
global evangelicalism
History
immigration
Korean and American relations
Korean and U.S. relations
Korean and United States history
Korean expatriates
mission history
race studies
transnational adoption
transnational history
Product details
- ISBN 9781496213327
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Aug 2025
- Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Ties That Bind narrates five stories of how a transnational community helped shape American perceptions and understandings of Korea and Koreans, from a time when only a small number of Americans knew anything about Korea to a time when most Americans were aware of Korea’s geopolitical significance. Three of the moments took place when Korea was a colony of Japan: the so-called Conspiracy Case in 1911, the independence movement of 1919, and the efforts to recognize Korean independence during World War II. The other two moments transpired in the context of the Cold War, when Korean orphans and Korean exchange students came to the United States in the 1950s.
In these five stories, the interplay of people, perceptions, and official and unofficial policy can be seen in the work of people who tried to influence U.S. and Korean relations by binding Americans and Koreans through shared values and experiences. They did so by portraying Koreans as Christian converts, as supporters of democracy and democratic ideals, and as people embracing Western or American cultural norms. The actors in this book did not always succeed in their goals, but through their endeavors, they facilitated policy discussions, forged ties between the United States and Korea, and began to break down cultural barriers between Koreans and Americans.
In these five stories, the interplay of people, perceptions, and official and unofficial policy can be seen in the work of people who tried to influence U.S. and Korean relations by binding Americans and Koreans through shared values and experiences. They did so by portraying Koreans as Christian converts, as supporters of democracy and democratic ideals, and as people embracing Western or American cultural norms. The actors in this book did not always succeed in their goals, but through their endeavors, they facilitated policy discussions, forged ties between the United States and Korea, and began to break down cultural barriers between Koreans and Americans.
Hannah Kim is an associate professor of history and a co-coordinator of the social studies education program at the University of Delaware, Newark.
