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Setting the Coordinates for an Intellectual Map of Gender, Work and Taiwan

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Everyday Gender at Work in Taiwan

Part of the book series: Gender, Sexualities and Culture in Asia ((GSCA))

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on existing literature in order to set up the research context for this study. I first draw attention to research that depicts the economic and social background in relation to women’s employment in Taiwan. Considering the emerging social changes and shifts, I propose that further inclusive investigation into women’s working lives in Taiwan is required. Next a discussion about scholarship that offers a critical perspective on recontextualising East Asian and Taiwanese society is introduced. I advocate acknowledgement of the localisation of Confucianism as well as the negotiation of resistance in the East Asian context. Finally, the focus shifts to the theories that have influenced the conceptualisation of women’s labour and gender in this research. I approach gender as a social construction which is accomplished in everyday practices and emphasise the gendered and gendering implications in labour.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The four groups were: science and engineering, literature and arts, medicine and agriculture, and law and commerce (Hsieh and Yang 2014).

  2. 2.

    It should be noted that Chen’s argument has sparked discussions and debates on historical interpretations of Taiwanese literature (see also Liou 2006; Chow et al. 2007).

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Chin, TF. (2018). Setting the Coordinates for an Intellectual Map of Gender, Work and Taiwan. In: Everyday Gender at Work in Taiwan. Gender, Sexualities and Culture in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7365-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7365-6_1

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