Tanners of Taiwan : life strategies and national culture / Scott Simon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simon, Scott, 1965-

Series:

Westview case studies in anthropology.

Westview case studies in anthropology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnology--Taiwan.

Ethnology.

Group identity--Taiwan.

Group identity.

Tanners--Taiwan.

Tanners.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (193 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Westview, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Tanners of Taiwan is an ethnography of identity construction set in the leather-tanning communities of Southern Taiwan. Through life history analysis and ethnographic observation, Simon examines what it means to be Chinese - or alternatively Taiwanese - in contemporary Taiwan. Under forty years of martial law from 1947 to 1987, the Chinese Nationalist Party tried to create a Chinese identity in Taiwan through ideological campaigns that reached deep into families, schools and workplaces. They justified their rule through a development narrative that Chinese culture and good policy contributed to the prosperity of the Taiwan miracle. These ideological claims and cultural identities, however, have never been fully accepted in Southern Taiwan. This ethnography is the first to document from the ground level how those claims have been contested, and how a new Taiwanese identity has been constructed since democratization. Tanners of Taiwan provides more than a description of workplaces in Taiwan. Looking at the different perspectives of tanners, women managers, and workers, it demonstrates how cultural and other identities are constructed through dynamics of power and political economy. A small, affordable case studies book to be assigned with a core textbook in introductory anthropology courses. Shows how the US reader is connected to the seemingly distant lives of Taiwanese tanners. Simon follows hides from the US to tanneries in Taiwan, then elsewhere to be made into shoes and other leather goods, and then back to the consumer in the US - demonstrating concretely the notion of "global interconnectedness." Anchored in personal observation and ethnographic detail, the book makes very tangible such otherwise abstract notions as "national identity" and "global integration.""--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Contents; Series Editor Preface; Acknowledgments; Notes on Transliteration of Mandarin and Taiwanese; CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION; CHAPTER TWO HISTORICAL CONTEXTS; CHAPTER THREE SOCIAL BACKGROUND; CHAPTER FOUR TANNERS AND FAMILY FIRMS; CHAPTER FIVE CORPORATE AND FIRM NETWORKS; CHAPTER SIX WOMEN AND ENTERPRISE; CHAPTER SEVEN WORKERS AND BOSSES; CHAPTER EIGHT CROSS-STRAIT INVESTMENT AND NATIONAL IDENTITY; CHAPTER NINE POLITICAL MOVEMENTS- TOWARD A FREE TAIWAN; Appendix I: Glossary; Appendix II: The Labor Process of Leather Tanning; References; Index

Notes:

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--McGill University.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-163) and index.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

ISBN:

0-429-97662-3

0-429-96554-0

0-429-49699-0

1-283-26144-8

9786613261441

0-8133-4575-8

9780429496998

OCLC:

606209214