Receptivity to Different Types of Migrants in Taiwan: Civic Behavior and Support for Same-sex Marriage as Novel Correlates

Introduction

In an era of rising global intra-regional migration, in-depth explorations of attitudes toward immigrants and immigration (ATII) in emerging migrant-hosting societies in Asia are scarce. Using Taiwan as a case of an emerging non-Western, democratic migrant-hosting context with a racially homogeneous population, aging social structure, and vibrant civic culture, this study examines the receptivity to three major migrant types: foreign professionals, marriage immigrants, and migrant workers. In this talk, I show how this study moves beyond traditional ATII research and argue that receptivity serves as a more accurate conceptual tool to address the general public’s perceptions toward immigrants of different categories or groups. It tells a contextualized story of 21st-century Taiwan: how its ethnocentrism is playing out with grassroots civic development and the more liberal end of cultural diversity.  The findings on receptivity toward intra-Asia migrants in a 21st-century Asian democracy illuminate possibilities for reinventing theories on the social organization of difference and the socio-cognitive construction of ethnicity, with broader relevance to inter-minority relations among Asians in traditional Western immigrant societies.

About the Speaker

Dr Hsin-Chieh Chang is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Fudan University. Her research interests include international migration, (im)migrant and minority integration, gender and intersectionality, and urban social change. Her longitudinal ethnographic research examines the gendered processes, intergroup dynamics, and social consequences of intra-Asia marriage immigration. Her work has been supported by the University of California Pacific Rim Research Program, the Social Science Research Council, the Korea Foundation, and the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology. Her current project focuses on the "Going Solo" experiences among the Asian Millennial generation in and via Seoul, Shanghai, and Taipei.