‘지방 소멸’ 담론 속 대구 청년 여성의 정주 경험과 대안적 좋은 삶의 가능성 = Settlement Experiences of Young Women in Daegu and the Possibility of an Alternative Good Life in the Context of the “Local Extinction” Discourse

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

· Research topics: This study examines the experiences of young women residing in Daegu, focusing on settlement as a process of choosing and negotiating sustainable living conditions rather than passive retention. It explores how they construct alternative possibilities for a good life beyond Seoul-centered success narratives and standardized life-course norms.
· Research background: Existing discussions of “regional extinction” and youth outmigration have overlooked the experiences of young people who remain in regional areas, particularly the gendered labor, cultural, and relational conditions shaping young women’s mobility and settlement.
· Differences from prior research: While previous studies have focused primarily on the causes of youth outmigration and migration to the capital region, this study examines settlement among young women as a process of reconstructing the meaning of a good life within gendered regional conditions and relational experiences of place.
· Research method: From a feminist qualitative perspective, this study conducted in-depth interviews with 10 unmarried women born in the 1990s who reside in Daegu, examining how work, family and social relationships, place experiences, and values of living are shaped within social and regional contexts.
· Research results: Settlement in Daegu emerged as a process of negotiating between capital-centered opportunities and locally available conditions of life. Daegu was experienced both as a constrained place characterized by low wages, limited employment opportunities, and gendered norms, and as a relational place supported by social networks, everyday care, familiar environments, and institutional resources. Within these conditions, participants reconstructed the meaning of a good life around a sustainable pace of life and relational stability rather than standardized life-course norms and Seoul-centered success.
· Contribution points and expected effects: This study reinterprets settlement as an active practice of constructing a sustainable life under gendered conditions, rather than as passive retention or failed migration. It expands research on youth mobility from why young people leave to the conditions under which they remain or return, and highlights the need for youth policies to incorporate gendered labor markets and conditions of relationships and care.