Why Taiwan?

This book situates Taiwan and Taiwanese actors at the center of knowledge production about Taiwan and re-asserts the ontological status of Taiwan as a legitimate object of scholarship in its own right. Challenging the appropriateness of the thesis that Taiwan matters because China matters, this book examines how transactions between China and Taiwan are never one-dimensional but two-way flows, and that the presumed hierarchical relationship between the two is very much blurred. It discusses how cultural dynamics in Taiwan are profoundly shaped by the modern migration routes, trade networks, geopolitical circumstances within which it is enmeshed and so understanding Taiwan in a world context reveals not only how the history, culture, and society of Taiwan have evolved over time, but also how Taiwan has played a key part in transnational processes as a site of global knowledge production.Theorizing the study of Taiwan in a global context, this book will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of Anthropology, Comparative Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Asian Studies, and Taiwan Studies.