This book contributes to an understanding of how globalization affects the lives of ordinary people. Since the middle of the twentieth century Taiwan has undergone a remarkably rapid change from a poor, mostly rural society to a thriving industrial, mostly urban one. Because of its openness to global influences, it has been called the first transnational culture. Women have been especially affected by the new opportunities available as this transition has occurred. We focus on two generations of women, mothers who came of age before the transition and their daughters who became adults as the island was emerging onto the top tier of industrial economies. We interviewed both generations in five families, obtaining first a biography of each, followed by a detailed inventory of their everyday lifestyle activities. In analyzing these two sets of data, a combination unique in the literature, we show the ways in which there has been an intermixing of transnational and local cultural elements. The result is a flowering of distinct identities as women can choose from a greater variety of lifestyle options by virtue of the increased awareness of the outside world. To make sense of this unfolding process, mostly concepts associated with theories of globalization are employed, but in some cases reformulated. Our approach to these issues can lay the groundwork for a more penetrating understanding of changing lifestyles in an increasingly globalized world in which transnational influences and traditional concerns are woven into a complex web of cultural responses.

As 1979 dawned, President Jimmy Carter extended diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China. upending longstanding U.S. foreign policy in Asia. For thirty years after the triumph of Mao’s revolution, the United States continued to recognize the claim of the Republic of China, based on Taiwan, to govern the entire country. Intricate economic and cultural relations existed between Washington and Taipei, backed by a Mutual Defense Treaty. While Carter withdrew from the treaty, satisfying a core Chinese condition for diplomatic relations, he presented Congress with legislation to allow other ties with Taiwan to continue unofficially. Many in Congress took issue with the President. Generally supportive of his policy to normalize relations with China, they worried about Taiwan’s future. Believing Carter’s legislation was incomplete, especially regarding Taiwan’s security, they held extensive hearings and lengthy debates, substantially strengthening the bill. The President ensured the measure comported with the terms of normalization. He negotiated with Congress to produce legislation he could sign and Beijing could at least tolerate. Although the final product enjoyed broad consensus in Congress, fights over amendments were fierce, and not always to the President’s advantage. Passage of the Taiwan Relations Act stabilized America’s position in Asia and its situation with Taipei, while allowing the new China to be properly launched. Now in its fourth decade, the Act remains highly impactful on the leading bilateral relationship in the world.The United States Constitution makes Congress the President’s partner in shaping American foreign policy. The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 vividly demonstrates how robust congressional engagement and inter-Branch cooperation leads to stronger and more durable policy outcomes, which enjoy a greater degree of public acceptance.

This volume is the product of scholars of various backgrounds, specialties and agendas bringing forth their most treasured findings regarding the Chinese Catholic Church. The chapters in this book covering the church from 1900 to the present trace the development of the Church in China from many historical and disciplinary vantage points.

Studies of Chinese society commonly emphasizze men's roles and functions, a not unreasonable approach to a society with patrilineal kinship structure. But this emphasis has left many important gaps in our knowledge of Chinese life. This study seeks to fill some of these gaps by examining the ways rural Taiwanese women manipulate men and each other in the pursuit of their personal goals. The source of a woman's power, her home in a social structure dominated by men, is what the author calls the uterine family, a de facto social unity consisting of a mother and her children. The first four chapters are devoted to general background material: a brief historical sketch of Taiwan and a description fo the settings in which the author's observations were made; the history of a particular family; the relation of Chinese women to the Chinese kinship system; and the interrelationships among women in the community. The remaining ten chapters take up in detail the successive stages of the Taiwanese woman's life cycle: infancy, childhood, engagement, marriage, motherhood, and old age. Throught the book the author presents detailed information on such topics as marriage negotiations, childbirth, child training practices, and the organization of women's groups.

This work includes 1000 entries covering the spectrum of defining women in the contemporary world.

Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity chronicles the turbulent relationship between Taiwan and China. This collection of essays aims to provide a critical analysis of the discourses surrounding the identity of Taiwan, its relationship with China, and global debates about Taiwan’s situation. Each chapter explores a unique aspect of Taiwan’s situation, fundamentally exploring how identity is framed in not only Taiwanese ideology, but in relation to the rest of the world. Focusing on how language is a means to maintaining a discourse of control, Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity delves into how Taiwan is determining its own sense of identity and language in the 21st century. This book targets researchers and students in discourse analysis, Taiwan studies, Chinese studies, and other subjects in social sciences and political science, as well as intellectuals in the public sphere all over the globe who are interested in the Taiwan issue.

This research-to-practice volume grounds clinicians in a robust, culturally-informed framework for conducting effective therapy with Asian-American couples, families, and individuals. Family, cultural, social, and spiritual dynamics are explored across ethnicities, generations, relationships, and immigrant/citizen experience to reflect a diverse, growing population. Discussion and case examples focus on contrasts, conflicts, and balances involved in acculturation and change, notably the shift from collectivist cultural tradition to a more independent view of the self, gender, choices, and relationships. The contributors’ finely shaded guidance and accessible approach will help therapists provide appropriate services for Asian-American clients without minimizing or pathologizing their experiences. Included in the coverage: How Asian American couples negotiate relational harmony: collectivism and gender equality. Through religion: working-class Korean immigrant women negotiate patriarchy. The role of Chinese grandparents in their adult children’s parenting practices in the United States. Balancing the old and the new: the case of second generation Filipino American women. Bicultural identity as a protective factor among Southeast Asian American youth who have witnessed domestic violence. Transition and Change in Collectivist Family Life is a cogent clinical resource for practitioners and mental health professionals with interests in Asian-American family therapy, psychotherapy, collectivism, and faith-based community and counseling.