This book contributes to an understanding of how globalization affects the lives of ordinary people. Since the middle of the twentieth century Taiwan has undergone a remarkably rapid change from a poor, mostly rural society to a thriving industrial, mostly urban one. Because of its openness to global influences, it has been called the first transnational culture. Women have been especially affected by the new opportunities available as this transition has occurred. We focus on two generations of women, mothers who came of age before the transition and their daughters who became adults as the island was emerging onto the top tier of industrial economies. We interviewed both generations in five families, obtaining first a biography of each, followed by a detailed inventory of their everyday lifestyle activities. In analyzing these two sets of data, a combination unique in the literature, we show the ways in which there has been an intermixing of transnational and local cultural elements. The result is a flowering of distinct identities as women can choose from a greater variety of lifestyle options by virtue of the increased awareness of the outside world. To make sense of this unfolding process, mostly concepts associated with theories of globalization are employed, but in some cases reformulated. Our approach to these issues can lay the groundwork for a more penetrating understanding of changing lifestyles in an increasingly globalized world in which transnational influences and traditional concerns are woven into a complex web of cultural responses.

This volume is the product of scholars of various backgrounds, specialties and agendas bringing forth their most treasured findings regarding the Chinese Catholic Church. The chapters in this book covering the church from 1900 to the present trace the development of the Church in China from many historical and disciplinary vantage points.

This book is the sequel to a well-received book titled ‘Integrated Approaches to Peace and Sustainability’ that aims to further advance the understanding of the dynamic interactions between various components of peace and sustainability. How are peace and sustainability linked to each other, and what are the key parameters that define the nexus between them? This book addresses those questions through a combination of theoretical studies and empirical research that contextualize peace and sustainability issues amid global transformations. The conceptual and empirical linkages between peace and sustainability are widely recognized in academic and policy circles. The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development confirms this recognition. However, many of the initiatives on peace and sustainability operate in silos, undermining the positive and mutually reinforcing relationship between them. Enhanced integration of peace and sustainability components is imperative for addressing complex challenges that come with global transformations that are manifested environmentally, socially, politically, and economically across levels. It is, therefore, crucial to identify the pathways that enhance the peace-promoting potential of sustainability and the sustainability-promoting potential of peace. The contributions in this edited book elaborate on such pathways by offering insights related to different social, economic, and environmental aspects of the peace-sustainability nexus. Given its inter- and trans-disciplinary focus, the book is of interest to policymakers and researchers working in different areas of peace and sustainability. It contributes to ongoing academic and policy discussions surrounding the outcomes of and challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.

Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity chronicles the turbulent relationship between Taiwan and China. This collection of essays aims to provide a critical analysis of the discourses surrounding the identity of Taiwan, its relationship with China, and global debates about Taiwan’s situation. Each chapter explores a unique aspect of Taiwan’s situation, fundamentally exploring how identity is framed in not only Taiwanese ideology, but in relation to the rest of the world. Focusing on how language is a means to maintaining a discourse of control, Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity delves into how Taiwan is determining its own sense of identity and language in the 21st century. This book targets researchers and students in discourse analysis, Taiwan studies, Chinese studies, and other subjects in social sciences and political science, as well as intellectuals in the public sphere all over the globe who are interested in the Taiwan issue.

The New Generation Z in Asia: Dynamics, Differences, Digitalization is the first book to compare the Asiatic Generation Z (born 1990–1995) in terms of country and culture specific drivers and characteristics based on interdisciplinary and international scientific research.

At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. China’s relation to Taiwan has been in constant contention since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949 and the creation of the defeated Kuomintang (KMT) exile regime on the island two months later. The island’s autonomous sovereignty has continually been challenged, initially because of the KMT’s insistence that it continue to represent not just Taiwan but all of China—and later because Taiwan refused to cede sovereignty to the then-dominant power that had arisen on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. One thing that makes Taiwan so politically difficult and yet so intellectually fascinating is that it ­­is not merely a security problem, but a ganglion of interrelated puzzles. The optimistic hope of the Ma Ying-jeou administration for a new era of peace and cooperation foundered on a landslide victory by the Democratic Progressive Party, which has made clear its intent to distance Taiwan from China’s political embrace. The Taiwanese are now waiting with bated breath as the relationship tautens. Why did détente fail, and what chance does Taiwan have without it? Contributors to this volume focus on three aspects of the evolving quandary: nationalistic identity, social economy, and political strategy.

This book highlights the development and outcomes of research on and practical experience in science education in Taiwan. As the outcomes of the scholarship on science education in Taiwan have garnered attention in science education communities around the world, this book gathers the most relevant research on Taiwan, presenting it in a cohesive overview that will move science education forward in terms of policy, research and practice.

Explores the milieu of Taiwan’s Buddhist nuns, who have the greatest numbers in the Buddhist world and a prominent place in their own country.

Although the flare-up of tensions in East Asia over the disputed islands, which are alternatively called Diaoyu (China), Diaoyutai (Taiwan) and Senkaku (Japan), seems to be ever more frequent, it has not always been the case. Lessons from the Disturbed Waters traces the origin of the issue back to when it first surfaced in the 1970s. The book explains the positions of the claimants, China, Japan and Taiwan, and explores the reasons why they have taken such positions over the past few decades. Unlike the other books which analyse the disputes predominantly from a geopolitical perspective, this books tries to do so mainly from the perspectives of international law, conflict management, negotiation strategies, and history. Readers will get to see an interesting dynamism played out among the three actors which are directly involved and the influence of extra-regional stakeholders such as the US over the disputes. While the disputes are still evolving, the author hopes this book can shed new light on the intricacies and complexities of the disputes and can provide some threads for further in-depth discussions.

This book explores the dynamics of party politics in Taiwan and cross-Strait relations over the past decade. While power transfer from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) back to the pro-status quo Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) in 2008 ushered a great leap of cross-Strait relations in the following years, the DPP’s coming back to power in 2016 has reversed the trend and brought back a cold peace between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait featuring the period of the Chen Shui-bian administration. Social cleavage and partisan confrontation on the island have justified Beijing’s strategy of selective engagement with the two main parties within Taiwan. The state of cross-Strait relations, therefore, has become a by-product of volatile party politics on the island. As speculation about Taiwan's future mounts, this book will interest scholars, China-watchers, and policymakers.