In the Name of Harmony and Prosperity: Labor and Gender Politics in Taiwan's Economic Restructuring

Since the 1980s Taiwan has grown into a global manufacturing powerhouse, a model of success that has inspired emulation throughout the developing world. Yet at the very peak of this expansion, Taiwan began to feel squeezed by changes both domestically and internationally. In the Name of Harmony and Prosperity examines Taiwan s economic restructuring since the late 1980s. Anru Lee discusses the latest phase of Taiwan s socio-economic development, most importantly the dialectical relationship between its export-oriented industrialization, change in production processes, and discourse on work ethics, including the subject formation of women workers as it relates to conditions in the global economy. At the center of this study is the process by which labor-capital relations become fair and legitimate, and how they contribute to our understanding of Asian capitalism and its role in the world economy.