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Multiculturalism in Taiwan and the Influence of Europe

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European Perspectives on Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan is gradually developing and being perceived as a multicultural society, a phenomenon which has been emerging alongside the democratization and pluralization of the island since the 1980s. This process has been accompanied by frequent references to developments in Western countries such as Canada, Australia and occasionally the European Union, while indigenous developments or earlier understandings of the Republic of China as a multiethnic state have been carefully avoided. Today, the Taiwanese discourse on multiculturalism focuses mainly on the four ethnic groups mentioned in the official discourse: the Hoklo (fulao), the Hakka (kejia), the Mainlanders (waishengren) and the indigenous population, usually referred to as the Aborigines (yuanzhumin). Other formerly marginalized groups and minorities, ranging from women, to sexual minorities and to the groups of new migrants, including “foreign brides” from mainland China and Southeast Asia, have also increasingly been included in the discourse of multiculturalism. Various NGOs have set up to proclaim the idea of cultural diversity, which has also been the focus of new legislation and constitutional changes.

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  1. Jens Damm
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  1. Tainan City, Taiwan

    Jens Damm

  2. Bangi, Malaysia

    Paul Lim

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Damm, J. (2012). Multiculturalism in Taiwan and the Influence of Europe. In: Damm, J., Lim, P. (eds) European Perspectives on Taiwan. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-94303-9_5

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