In The Name of Harmony and Prosperity: Labor and Gender Politics in Taiwan's Economic Restructuring. By ANRU LEE. [New York: State University of New York Press 2004. xvi+196pp. $45.00. ISBN 0-7914-6033-9.]

Extract

Anru Lee's In The Name of Harmony and Prosperity examines the labour and gender politics in the latest phase of Taiwan's economic restructuring. The author argues that the conventional wisdom that regards the interaction between culture and economy as a static relationship is problematic, and she sets out to develop a dialectic approach to culture and economy. Lee has collected a huge amount of data from fieldwork interviews and observational skills, and the research outcome further affirms the idea that the cultural dimension has to be taken into account in order to understand fully Taiwan's economic success. The book is divided into seven broad chapters: Taiwan's great transformation; From sunrise to sunset; The waning of a hard work ethic; The meaning of work; Between filial daughter and loyal sister; Guests from the tropics; and Bringing the global and the local.

The author begins with a general description of Taiwan's economic transformation in recent decades, and then focuses on the latest changes in the textile industry in Homei, analysing how the local residents responded to and engaged in the changes. In chapter two, “From sunrise to sunset,” Lee highlights the significance of the cultural ideal in Taiwan's decentralized production system. She argues that the “black-hand becoming boss” (heishou bian toujia) cultural notion helps to thwart the development of class consciousness in Taiwan's society and adds legitimacy to the factory owner's complaint of labour shortages and society's declining work ethic. Chapter three, “The waning of a hard work ethic,” shows the paradoxical nature of the claims about the shortage of labour and explores the New Generation moral discourse, which involves a network value of hard work, equal opportunity and social mobility. Chapter four presents the life stories of three women from different generations and discusses the meaning of work to them. The author argues that not only gender but also other social institutions (such as the patrilineal kinship system, family and relations in production) have to be examined in order to fully comprehend the relationship between the economy and the formation of women's subjectivity.