Admission requirements
None.
Description
Exploring Taiwan's Multicultural Fabric: Ethnicity, Gender, and Identity
Contemporary Taiwan is a democratized, globalized, multi-ethnic society rich in cultural diversity. This
course examines differences in ethnicity, gender, and their intersections with factors like class, region,
age, orientation, religion, and lifestyle. Taiwan is influenced by international trends while also providing
fertile ground for social innovations. We will introduce Taiwan’s complex identity issues focused on
ethnicities and gender.
Topics on ethnicities encompass indigenous peoples, various Chinese settlers, and new migrants. We
will critically assess whether the commitment to multiculturalism has been implemented in practice,
examining both discursive narratives and societal/political practices over time. Taiwan will be regarded
as a specific countermovement to increasing authoritarianism, particularly in the PRC.
The gender component explores 20th century Taiwanese women’s conditions, emphasizing the mid-late
20th century. Since the feminist movement emerged in the 1970s, women’s issues have been proposed
and discussed broadly. We will analyze the autonomous feminist movement, shifts in women’s status,
growth of feminist scholarship, sex work, migration, and the LGBTQI movement's links and distinctions
with feminism.
Course objectives
Students will:
Identify, summarize, critically assess, and analyze English and Chinese sources on key topics
author academic essays including reading responses and a term paper
express themselves through detailed presentations and discussions
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Assessment method
Assessment
In-class presentation 30%
One short essay of 3000 words 50%
Class participation 20%
Weighing
The final grade is established by determining the weighted average of all elements.
Resit
There will be no resit for the course work, but individual submissions can compensate each other.
For the term paper, only a previous submission for the first attempt qualifies students for the resit, and only if that submission scored a failing grade. First attempts that received a passing mark (5.5 or higher) cannot be improved through further revision.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
Álvarez, María del Pilar (2020). Nationalizing Transnationalism: A Comparative Study of the “Comfort Women” Social Movement in China, Taiwan, and South Korea. Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, 19(1), 8-30.
Brown, Melissa. 2004. Is Taiwan Chinese? The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing Identities. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chang, Doris (2015). "Taiwan's Feminist Discourses and The State of the Field and Future Prospects". Conference Paper, The Second World Congress of Taiwan Studies. Taipei.
Chang, Doris (2020). Legalisation of Same-Sex Marriage in Contemporary Taiwan. International Journal of Taiwan Studies.
Chen, Su-Chiao (2010). "Multilingualism in Taiwan". International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 79-104.
Chen, Su-Chiao (2020). "Language Policy and Practice in Taiwan in the Early Twenty-First Century". In Henning Klöter, Mårten Söderblom Saarela (eds.) Language Diversity in the Sinophone World. Historical Trajectories, Language Planning, and Multilingual Practices.
Chen-Dedman, A. (2022). Tongzhi Sovereignty: Taiwan’s lgbt Rights Movement and the Misplaced Critique of Homonationalism. International Journal of Taiwan Studies. https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-20221267
Corcuff, Stephane (2002). Chapter 8. Taiwan's "Mainlanders," New Taiwanese? In Memories of the Future. Routledge.
Damm, Jens (2012). "The Multiculturalization of Taiwan: From a Unified Han-Identity to the 'Four Great Ethnic Groups'". In Klaus Mühlhahn und Nathalie van Looy (Hg.) The Globalization of Confucius and Confucianism. Münster: Lit-Verlag, 2012: 72-89.
Fan, Yun and Wu, Wei-Ting (2016). The Long Feminist March in Taiwan. Routledge, 313-325.
Friedman, Kerim (2018). The Hegemony of the Local Taiwanese Multiculturalism and Indigenous Identity Politics. 2018 (preprint).
Harrell, Stevan (1990). "From Xiedou to Yijun, the Decline of Ethnicity in Northern Taiwan, 18851895". Late Imperial China, 99-127.
Klöter, Henning (2016). "Taiwan: Language Situation". In Rint Sybesma et al. (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics (ECLL), Brill, 263–267.
Klöter, Henning and Wasserfall, Julia (2022). "Introduction: Language and Society in Taiwan". International Journal of Taiwan Studies, 217-223.
Kuah, Adrian; Kim, Chang; Le Queux, Stéphane (2021). "Multiculturalism in Singapore and Malaysia: Approaches and Outcomes". Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 122-141.
Lan, Pei-Chia (2022). Shifting Borders and Migrant Workers' Im/mobility: The case of Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic". Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 225-246.
Lin, Chih-Chieh & SU, Fang-Yi & CHUNG, Ping-Hsuan. (2020). Policing and Regulating Commercial Sex in Taiwan: A Review from Gender, Culture and Legal Perspectives. Asian Journal of Law and Society. 7. 1-33.
Martin, Howard (2022). "The Hakka Ethnic Movement in Taiwan, 1986-1991". In Nicole Constable (ed.) Guest People. University of Washington Press, 176-195.
Meng-Hsuan, Dominic and Chang, Mau-Kuei (2010). Understanding the Nuances of Waishengren: History and Agency. China Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.5310
Momesso, Lara (2022). "I Vote so I am”: Marriage Migrants' Political Participation in Taiwan. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 2022: 241-264.
Pelaggi, Stefano (2019). "Evolution and Dimensions of Taiwanese Soft Power and its Effectiveness in Europe". Tamkang Journal of International Affairs.
Schubert, Gunter (ed.). 2016. Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Taiwan. London: Routledge.
Simon, Scott (2017). "All our relations: Indigenous rights movements in contemporary Taiwan". In Dafydd Fell (ed.) Taiwan's Social Movements under Ma Ying-jeou From the Wild Strawberries to the Sunflowers. Routledge: 236-257.
Tamburo, Elisa (2018). Authoritarianism in the Living Room: Everyday Disciplines, Senses, and Morality in Taiwan’s Military Villages, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 47(2), 137–163.
Zani, Beatrice (2018). Trapped in Migration: Migratory Careers and Entrepreneurial Creativity of Chinese Migrant Women in Taiwan. China Perspectives, 2018: 75-85.
Zani, Beatrice (2022). Introduction. In Women Migrants in Southern China and Taiwan. Routledge.
Zemanek, Adina Simona (2018). "Nation branding in contemporary Taiwan: A grassroots perspective". Culture, Theory and Critique, 59.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr
Remarks
Every academic year, this course is taught by a different visiting professor. The content and focus of the course will therefore differ per academic year.