This dissertation investigates the relationship between waste recycling and social change. Instead of complying with a prevailing notion of recycling as an environmental solution, or as material... Show moreThis dissertation investigates the relationship between waste recycling and social change. Instead of complying with a prevailing notion of recycling as an environmental solution, or as material conversion and trade, this research maintains that recycling is about people, their relation to objects and environments, their networks of interaction and modes of thoughts. The empirical focus of this dissertation is Tzu-chi recycling: a volunteer-operated, community-based, Buddhism-associated national movement in Taiwan since the 1990s. This research analyzes Tzu-chi recycling at three levels: individual, communal and institutional. It studies Tzu-chi recycling against the backdrop of Taiwan’s drastic social change: the economic and demographic restructuring, a movement of political localization, and the dynamic powers of religious phenomenon. By doing so, the dissertation shows post-authoritarian Taiwan through the lens of waste recycling, and understands waste recycling through Taiwan. Overall, it contends that in different forms of action and ways of seeing, Tzu-chi-associated members redefine recycling as a past-oriented strategy and a redemptive tool to deal with different consequences of modernity. From the vantage point of waste, this research sheds light on the entanglement between a society’s development and its waste as an examination of its continuum and rupture between present and past. Through the chapters of this dissertation, it becomes clear that, above all, rubbish is at the core of meaningful and coordinated social activity; it makes us who we are. Show less
Schneider, F.A.; Veere, A.P. van der; Lammertink, J.P.; Burgers, E.M.; Sicinski, R.G.; Zhang, S. 2020
With societies around the world tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the role of digital technology has come into focus as a means of augmenting efforts to manage disease and its impacts. What can... Show moreWith societies around the world tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the role of digital technology has come into focus as a means of augmenting efforts to manage disease and its impacts. What can apps, big data, and digital analytics contribute to such efforts, and what risks do they pose? Asia provides important lessons. Not only have societies in the region long been at the forefront of technological development, but they have also proactively adopted digital solutions as they confront COVID-19. Importantly, Asia has a history of managing highly contagious diseases, and outbreaks like SARS in 2002 or H1N1 in 2009 have provided experiences in risk management and health provision that now powerfully inform both digital and non-digital responses to the current pandemic. The result is a diverse range of different approaches that can teach us much about the advantages and disadvantages of designing tech solutions to fight pandemics. Show less
This study focuses on the life, exploits and ideology of Guru Wuguang (1818-2000), an eclectic and influential Taiwanese Buddhist figure who studied Daoist alchemy, multiple forms of Chinese,... Show moreThis study focuses on the life, exploits and ideology of Guru Wuguang (1818-2000), an eclectic and influential Taiwanese Buddhist figure who studied Daoist alchemy, multiple forms of Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as biology, thermodynamics, philosophy, theology, and occulture. This is done in order to understand what happens when a tradition ‘purified’ from its ‘mythical’ elements reincorporates itself in the tension between its ‘enchanted’ past and ‘scientific’ present. Wuguang is famous throughout the Chinese-speaking Buddhist world for resurrecting Zhenyan, a school of esoteric Buddhism said to have flourished in China during the Tang Dynasty. The academic community has largely ignored Wuguang, making this the first in-depth exploration of this figure, whose influence is truly global. Building upon David McMahan’s work on Buddhist modernism, Jason Josephson’s secular-religious-superstitious trinary, scholarly discourse concerning Weberian disenchantment, and employing the Religious Economy Model, I argue that Wuguang’s teachings represent an intentionally reenchanted form of Buddhist modernism aimed at harmonizing magic with modern science and philosophy. While scholarly discourse on Asian magic in the modern world has been confined to popular religion, this study additionally focuses on ‘High-Church Buddhism’ by analyzing Wuguang’s magico-scientific interpretation of complex Buddhist doctrine. Show less
The thesis explores how indigenous people access land rights through claims. Land claims happens on the encounters between different regimes of property. The authors found indigenous people have... Show moreThe thesis explores how indigenous people access land rights through claims. Land claims happens on the encounters between different regimes of property. The authors found indigenous people have many ways to express their land claims since Japanese time. There are individual claims on lands like reservation land that suggests individualism among indigenous communities. There are collective claims on autonomy, co-management of river resources and development projects. Various mapping activities are analyzed to show how indigenous connect them with the lands. The thesis constructs a framework to express land property claims that are based on indigenous ideas on human unit, institution, rights and land resources. Show less
The objective of this research is to examine the rise and fall of a prominent 17th century Chinese maritime power: the Cheng lineage. It elucidates how, due to the consequences of specific... Show moreThe objective of this research is to examine the rise and fall of a prominent 17th century Chinese maritime power: the Cheng lineage. It elucidates how, due to the consequences of specific historical circumstances at a crucial moment in time, the Ming imperial administration initially tolerated a group of Chinese smugglers as a nominal coastal defense detachment. With the help of the local gentry, a substantial number of these mercenaries gradually transformed into the backbone of the defense force of Fu-chien province and became the main protectors of Chinese commercial interests in the East and South China Seas. Wrestling with other maritime competitors, the Cheng clan and their followers were dragged into a whirlpool of power struggles with the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English in the China Sea region during the early stages of globalization. The fall of the Ming Empire allowed the Cheng lineage to create an independent, but short-lived seaborne regime in China’s southeastern coastal provinces. Show less
This thesis investigates the highly complex issue of cross-border marriages between Mainland China and Taiwan in the period from early 1990 to 2004. The objectives of this research is to... Show moreThis thesis investigates the highly complex issue of cross-border marriages between Mainland China and Taiwan in the period from early 1990 to 2004. The objectives of this research is to investigate three aspects of cross-border marriage migration: 1) factors and motivations for cross-border marriage, that is, Why do mainland Chinese women choose to leave China and to come to Taiwan and why do Taiwanese men marry mainland Chinese women? 2) formation and justification of borders of exclusion, that is, Why and how are mainland brides constructed as “others”? 3) negotiation of gender and intra-familial relations among members of cross-border families. These questions are answered by looking at the perspectives of different actors and by examining how these perspectives are formed and whether and how they are substantiated. These actors include the state and the media, the marriage brokerage industry, and cross-strait couples and family members. Multiple research methodologies and sources of data are used, including ethnography, discourse analysis of policy and media representation and participant observation. Show less
In traditional Chinese society, the older generations of women in kinship relations had more power than the younger ones. However, with the transformation of Taiwanese society and family form,... Show moreIn traditional Chinese society, the older generations of women in kinship relations had more power than the younger ones. However, with the transformation of Taiwanese society and family form, contemporary mothersin- law are often described as the generation of women 'caught in between', no longer commanding the privilege and authority of their mothers-in-law's generation, but with high expectations of their own daughters-in-law. Show less
The post-1987 liberalisation of society and blossoming of feminist movements in Taiwan opened space for female artists, who spearheaded the reinterpretation of gender, class and ethnicity in a... Show moreThe post-1987 liberalisation of society and blossoming of feminist movements in Taiwan opened space for female artists, who spearheaded the reinterpretation of gender, class and ethnicity in a patriarchal society. Amid the ambivalence and heterogeneity induced in Taiwanese culture by its colonial history, women began to express their cultural 'in-betweenness' and modernity in curated exhibitions. Show less
