1st Edition

Politics of Difference in Taiwan

Edited By T.W. Ngo, Hong-zen Wang Copyright 2011
    224 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    224 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Taiwan has been hailed as a successful case of democratization. Compared with many other nations, the transition from authoritarian rule occurred in a rather orderly fashion. Group consciousness emerged as a reaction to the decades-long suppression of cultural diversity under martial law as different social groups competed fiercely to exert their political subjectivity.

    This volume is the first study to examine the politics of difference in Taiwan. It aims to go beyond ethnic identity as the sole concern for group boundary, to acknowledge the interests of other marginalized groups, and to look behind reified group boundaries in order to discover group differences as mediated social relations based on overlapping boundaries rather than exclusive opposition. In exploring the politics of difference among minority groups and the problems arising from their struggle over political recognition, the book challenges the assumptions that groups are ontologically given, that groups are internally homogenous, and that the particularistic identities have no overlap. The chapters offer a broad coverage of major social groups including ethnic minorities, recent migrants, gay and lesbian groups, and marginalized workers. They offer perspective analyses of the ongoing struggles by minority groups to overcome subordination.

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    1. Cultural Difference, Social Recognition, and Political Representation in Taiwan Tak-Wing Ngo and Hong-zen Wang   2. Multiculturalism and Indigenism: Contrasting the Experiences of Canada and Taiwan Scott Simon   3. Liminality and Taiwan Tropism in a Postcolonial Context: Schemes of National Identification among Taiwan’s "Mainlanders" on the Eve of Kuomintang’s Return to Power Stéphane Corcuff   4. The Fabrication of Differences among Kaohsiung Dockworkers Yi-Chi Chen and Tak-Wing Ngo   5. Manufacturing Manhood: The Culture of Hegemonic Masculinity in Taiwan’s Labor Movement Ming-sho Ho   6. Classism in Immigration Control and Migrant Integration Yen-Fen Tseng and Yukiko Komiya   7. Strategies of Alliance among Cross-Border Families and Chinese Marriage Immigrants Melody Chia-Wen Lu   8. Politics of Negotiation between Vietnamese Wives and Taiwanese Husbands Wen-hui Anna Tang, Danièle Bélanger, and Hong-zen Wang   9. Discrimination and Backlash against Homosexual Groups Jens Damm   10. Assessing (Multi)culturalism through Public Art Practices Anru Lee and Perng-juh Peter Shyong

    Biography

    Tak-Wing Ngo is IIAS Professor of Asian History at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

    Hong-zen Wang is Professor and Director of the Graduate Institute of Sociology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan.