The Impact of Multiculturalism and the New South-Bound Policy on New Immigrants in Taiwan

2021-06-23 - 2021-06-23

Dear colleagues and friends,

We are excited to inform you that a webinar on the topic The Impact of Multiculturalism and the New South-Bound Policy on New Immigrants in Taiwan, jointly presented by Taiwan Research Centre, and Multiculturalism in Action Project, Centre for Urban History, Culture and Media, Institute of Future Cities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is going to be held on 23 June, 2021. 

Date: 23 June 2021 (Wednesday)
Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm (Hong Kong Time)
Language: English
Venue: Zoom

Abstract: Taiwan has been a migrant society, but the use of multiculturalism language in official documents and civil events only began in the last decade when Taiwan actively sought closer ties with Southeast Asian countries. Against this political-economic backdrop, marriage migrants from Southeast Asia (referred to as “new immigrants”) previously regarded as “social problems” are suddenly redefined as “social capital” and “civil diplomats”. This change in perception and concomitant policymaking regarding new immigrants and their children born in Taiwan has provoked controversies. In this talk I will discuss, firstly, how government advocacy of multiculturalism and the New South-Bound Policy has reconstructed the image of new immigrants and their children, and secondly, how college students (the new second generation and their peers) respond to this policy trend. By analyzing online commentaries, the new second generation’s stories, and interviews with new second generation college students, I show how marriage migrants and their children negotiate and/or resist the official discourse and social imagination, and shed light on the complexity of identity formation/reformation in Taiwan today.

Speaker: Prof. Hsunhui Tseng 
Assistant Professor, Department of Taiwanese Literature, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Discussant: Mr. Chang Cheng 
CEO of RTI (Radio Taiwan International); Founder of “Bring Back to Taiwan a Book You Can’t Read” movement; Advisor on Southeast Asian Affairs, Ministry of Culture

Moderator: Prof. Siumi Maria Tam 
Associate Director, Taiwan Research Centre, CUHK

The poster of the webinar is attached to this email. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.  

Registration:
 (deadline: 21 June, 2021)

Best Regards,
Taiwan Research Centre
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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