My current ethnographic project examines the case study of a nonprofit organization that provides a tuition-free afterschool program in New England. This project highlights these nonprofits as pockets of intercultural solidarity that encourage individuals to work with a diverse group of people for a common goal. The main question is: How does a nonprofit organization manage different, sometimes even competing, expectations from donors and beneficiaries? I identify instances in which the different expectations may hinder the organization's ability to serve its beneficiaries, the students, and explore how nonprofit wokers interpret, resolve, or work around these obstacles.
Another strand of my research looks at the use of mediated communication by migrants to bypass restrictions by the host society. My recent publication has examined how YouTube vlogging transformed the experience of immobility imposed by South Korean COVID-19 Quarantine Policies. Currently, I am working on a collaborative project that looks at the communication network of North Korean refugees across the North Korea-China border.
Yun, Jiwon and Myung Ah Son. 2024. “Living on the Border of an Authoritarian Mobility Regime: Defecting, Border Hopping and Smuggled Smartphones in North Korea.” Mobilities 20(1): 159-174. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2024.2384508.
Yun, Jiwon. 2023. “Redefining Immobility with Mediated Mobilities: Reflections from South Korean Quarantine Vlogs.” New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231156992.
Yun, Jiwon. 2023. “Singing, Moving and Laughing Together: Engaging the Senses for a Cosmopolitan Atmosphere.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 49(11): 2914-2931. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1987205.
Yun, Jiwon. 2019. “Lonely Strangers of Metropolis: The Effect of Internal Migration Experience on Social Relationship Satisfaction.” Korean Journal of International Migration 7(1): 35-56. https://www.dbpia.co.kr/Journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE08751738.