Minji Yoo

I am a Research Fellow at the Asian Centre for Women’s Studies (ACWS) at Ewha Womans University, where I contribute to the multi-year project Race and Gender: Global Korea, Neo-Racialisation and Intersectionality under the Institute Programmes in the Humanities & Social Sciences funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2021–). I am also a Global Fellow at the Jeonbuk National University Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (JISEAS).

My research lies at the intersections of postcolonial state formation, relational and affective ontologies of peace, and the gendered and racialised political economies shaped by Korean foreign direct investment. Drawing on ethnographic and relational approaches, I examine how authority, care, emotion, and labour configure political orders in Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and the broader region.

Building from these engagements, I develop political insights from the relational, affective, and racialised formations found across East and Southeast Asia. My work shows how Global South realities are not exceptions but vital foundations for political theory—a perspective shaped by attentiveness and deep respect for the people and places that inform my thinking.

I hold a PhD in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response from the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) at the University of Manchester. I also completed an MA in International Development (Poverty, Conflict and Reconstruction) at the University of Manchester, and a BA with a double major in Economics and Public Administration.