This book vibrantly demonstrates how the study of music allows for identification and interpretation of the forces that form Taiwanese society, from politics and policy to reactions to and assertions of such policies. Contributors to this edited volume explore how music shapes life — and life shapes music — in Taiwan, focusing on subjects ranging from musical life under Japanese colonial rule (1895–1945) through to the contemporary creations of Indigenous musicians, popular music performance and production, Christian religious music, traditional ritual music and theatre, conceptions about sound and noise, and garbage truck music's role in reducing household waste. The volume’s twelve chapters present diverse approaches to their sounding subjects, some deeply rooted in the methods and concerns explored by Taiwan's first generation of ethnomusicologists. Others employ current social theories. Presenting a window into the cultural lives of the residents of this multicultural, politically contested island, Resounding Taiwan will appeal to students and scholars of musicology and ethnomusicology, anthropology and Asian studies more widely.

Resounding Transcendence is a pathbreaking set of ethnographic and historical essays by leading scholars exploring the ways sacred music effects cultural, political, and religious transitions in the contemporary world. With chapters covering Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist practices in East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, North America, the Caribbean, North Africa, and Europe, the volume establishes the theoretical and methodological foundations for music scholarship to engage in current debates about modern religion and secular epistemologies. It also transforms those debates through sophisticated, nuanced treatments of sound and music - ubiquitous elements of ritual and religion often glossed over in other disciplines. Resounding Transcendence confronts the relationship of sound, divinity, and religious practice in diverse post-secular contexts. By examining the immanence of transcendence in specific social and historical contexts and rethinking the reified nature of "religion" and "world religions," these authors examine the dynamics of difference and transition within and between sacred musical practices. The work in this volume transitions between traditional spaces of sacred musical practice and emerging public spaces for popular religious performance; between the transformative experience of ritual and the sacred musical affordances of media technologies; between the charisma of individual performers and the power of the marketplace; and between the making of authenticity and hybridity in religious repertoires and practices. Broad in scope, rich in ethnographic and historical detail, and theoretically ambitious, Resounding Transcendence is an essential contribution to the study of music and religion.

This edited volume provides a complete introduction to critical issues across the field of Indigenous peoples in contemporary Taiwan, from theoretical approaches to empirical analysis. Seeking to inform wider audiences about Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples, this book brings together both leading and emerging scholars as part of an international collaborative research project, sharing broad specialisms on modern Indigenous issues in Taiwan. This is one of the first dedicated volumes in English to examine contemporary Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples from such a range of disciplinary angles, following four section themes: long-term perspectives, the arts, education, and politics. Chapters offer perspectives not only from academic researchers, but also from writers bearing rich practitioner and activist experience from within the Taiwanese Indigenous rights movement. Methods range from extensive fieldwork to Indigenous-directed film and literary analysis. Taiwan's Contemporary Indigenous Peoples will prove a useful resource for students and scholars of Taiwan Studies, Indigenous Studies and Asia Pacific Studies, as well as educators designing future courses on Indigenous studies.

This book offers a substantive assessment of the first Tsai Ing-wen administration, investigating different policy fields and issues from 2016 to 2020, prior to Tsai’s election for a second term. Providing a balanced account of government performance under Tsai’s Ing-wen’s reign, chapters in this edited volume combine theory and extensive empirical data to highlight both achievements and shortfalls of her administration. Chapters range comprehensively from topics of the implementation of same-sex marriage, curriculum reform, ‘transitional justice’, industrial policy and pension reform, which have been celebrated by domestic Tsai Ing-wen supporters, but have also met with considerable opposition from within Taiwanese society. Externally, cross-strait relations, the New Southbound Policy and the triangular relationship with China and the USA, which embodied major challenges for Tsai’s first administration, are also analysed as key reference points throughout. Featuring contributions from twenty six internationally renowned Taiwan scholars, Taiwan During the First Administration of Tsai Ing-wen is an essential resource for students and scholars of Taiwanese politics and society, cross-strait relations and international relations.

This book interprets the meanings of the uses, regulations, and representations of the ocean undertaken by the state and other societal power sources in modern Taiwan between 1949 and 2016. Following Michael Mann’s historical sociology and Philip Steinberg’s political geography, the book analyses the construction of the ocean by the society of Taiwan in terms of ideological, political, military and economic sources of power. It also provides a structural foundation for creating a framework of the politics in maritime and ocean affairs through the lens of an interpretive analysis of the modern Taiwanese construction of the ocean. Moreover, it explores the social constructions of the ocean through the written works of intellectuals in natural sciences, social studies and humanities in Taiwan after the 1980s. Succinctly revealing how Taiwanese society has influenced the social construction of the ocean, this book will appeal to scholars and students interested in Taiwanese politics and history, political geography and Asian politics.

Adopting a critical political economy perspective this book sheds new light on the social and political struggles that shaped the political dynamics of Taiwan-China relations and cross-Strait rapprochement between 2008 and 2014. Presenting a careful analysis of primary sources and interviews, the book reconstructs the historical, political and socio-economic factors that shaped Taiwan’s path to the Sunflower Movement of 2014, reinterpreting this process as a struggle over Taiwan’s role in the global economy. It challenges received wisdoms regarding the rise and fall of the rapprochement: First, the study argues that the rapprochement was not primarily driven by political elites but by capitalist conglomerates within Taiwan, which sought a normalisation of economic relations across the Taiwan Strait. Second, it finds that Taiwan’s social movements during that period were not homogeneous but rather struggled to find a common vision that could unite the critics of the rapprochement. The insights provided not only offer a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s protest cycle between 2008 and 2014, but also serve to recontextualise the political dynamics in post-Sunflower Taiwan. As such it will appeal to students and scholars of Taiwan Studies, East Asian Politics and Social Movement Studies.

In The Oxford Handbook of Music in China and the Chinese Diaspora, twenty-three scholars advance knowledge and understandings of Chinese music studies. Each contribution develops a theoretical model to illuminate new insights into a key musical genre or context. This handbook is categorized into three parts. In Part One, authors explore the extensive, remarkable, and polyvocal historical legacies of Chinese music. Ranging from archaeological findings to the creation of music history, chapters address enduring historical practices and emerging cultural expressions. Part Two focuses on evolving practice across a spectrum of key instrumental and vocal genres. Each chapter provides a portrait of musical change, tying musical transformations to the social dimensions underpinning that change. Part Three responds to the role that prominent issues, including sexuality, humanism, the amateur, and ethnicity, play in the broad field of Chinese music studies. Scholars present systematic orientations for researchers in the third decade of the twenty-first century. This volume incorporates extensive input from researchers based in China, Taiwan, and among Chinese communities across the world. Using a model of collaborative inquiry, The Oxford Handbook of Music in China and the Chinese Diaspora features diverse insider voices alongside authors positioned across the anglophone world.