Tanners of Taiwan - Life Strategies and National Culture (Paperback, New)

An ethnography of the leather-tanning industry in Southern Taiwan, The Tanners of Taiwan examines what it means to be Chinese. . Tanners of Taiwan is an ethnography of identity construction set in the leather-tanning communities of Southern Taiwan. Through life history analysis and ethnographic observation, Simon examines what it means to be Chinese - or alternatively Taiwanese - in contemporary Taiwan. Under forty years of martial law from 1947 to 1987, the Chinese Nationalist Party tried to create a Chinese identity in Taiwan through ideological campaigns that reached deep into families, schools and workplaces. They justified their rule through a development narrative that Chinese culture and good policy contributed to the prosperity of the Taiwan miracle. These ideological claims and cultural identities, however, have never been fully accepted in Southern Taiwan. This ethnography is the first to document from the ground level how those claims have been contested, and how a new Taiwanese identity has been constructed since democratization. Tanners of Taiwan provides more than a description of workplaces in Taiwan. workers, it demonstrates how cultural and other identities are constructed through dynamics of power and political economy. *A small, affordable case studies book to be assigned with a core textbook in introductory anthropology courses. Shows how the US reader is connected to the seemingly distant lives of Taiwanese tanners. Simon follows hides from the US to tanneries in Taiwan, then elsewhere to be made into shoes and other leather goods, and then back to the consumer in the US - demonstrating concretely the notion of global interconnectedness. Anchored in personal observation and ethnographic detail, the book makes very tangible such otherwise abstract notions as national identity and global integration.

General

Imprint:	WestviewPress
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Case Studies in Anthropology
Release date:	March 2005
First published:	February 2005
Authors:	Scott Simon
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 10mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	195
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-8133-4193-4
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > Social & cultural anthropology > General
LSN:	0-8133-4193-0
Barcode:	9780813341934

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