Bibliography of Taiwan Ethnographies

This page aims to list every book based (in whole or part) on ethnographic research in Taiwan. It is an ongoing project so please check back regularly. The data is drawn from a public Zotero group library, which can be viewed here. (The Zotero version will always be more up-to-date than this page.)

Note: currently the bibliography is limited to English language texts, but that may change later on.

Current team includes: Kerim Friedman, Brendan Galipeau, J.B. Klich, and Eliana Ritts.

The latest update was made on October 12, 2021

The Bibliography

2020s

Lin, W.-P. (2021). Island Fantasia: Imagining Subjects on the Military Frontline between China and Taiwan. Cambridge University Press.

Stock, J. P. J., & Chiener, C. (2021). Everyday Musical Life among the Indigenous Bunun, Taiwan. Routledge.

Keck, F. (2020). Avian Reservoirs: Virus Hunters and Birdwatchers in Chinese Sentinel Posts. Duke University Press Books.

Lazzarotti, M. (2020). Place, Alterity, and Narration in a Taiwanese Catholic Village. Springer Nature.

Menheere, Y. (2020). The Way and Its Powers: An Ethnographic Account of Taoist Practice and Religious Authority in Northern Taiwan. Nielsen Bookdata.

2010s

Martin, J. T. (2019). Sentiment, Reason, and Law: Policing in the Republic of China on Taiwan. Cornell University Press.

Silvio, T. J. (2019). Puppets, Gods, and Brands: Theorizing the Age of Animation from Taiwan. University of Hawaii Press.

Brainer, A. (2019). Queer Kinship and Family Change in Taiwan. Rutgers University Press.

Simon, S. (2018). Tanners of Taiwan: Life Strategies and National Culture. Routledge.

Chin, T.-F. (2018). Everyday Gender at Work in Taiwan. Springer Nature.

Tan, S. E. (2017). Beyond “Innocence”: Amis Aboriginal Song in Taiwan as an Ecosystem. Routledge.

Hamilton, G. G., & Kao, C. (2017). Making Money. How Taiwanese Industrialists Embraced the Global Economy. Stanford University press.

Yueh, H.-I. S. (2016). Identity Politics and Popular Culture in Taiwan: A Sajiao Generation. Lexington Books.

Friedman, S. L. (2015). Exceptional States: Chinese Immigrants and Taiwanese Sovereignty. University of California Press.

Martin, E. (2015). The Meaning of Money in China and the United States: The 1986 Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures. HAU.

Boretz, A. (2010). Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters: Ritual Violence, Martial Arts, and Masculinity on the Margins of Chinese Society. University of Hawaii Press.

2000s

Hatfield, D. (2009). Taiwanese Pilgrimage to China: Ritual, Complicity, Community. Springer.

Moskowitz, M. L. (2009). Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow: Chinese Pop Music and Its Cultural Connotations. University of Hawaii Press.

Rudolph, M. (2008). Ritual Performances as Authenticating Practices: Cultural Representations of Taiwan’s Aborigines in Times of Political Change. LIT Verlag Münster.

Szonyi, M. (2008). Cold War Island: Quemoy on the Front Line. Cambridge University Press.

Lan, P.-C. (2006). Global Cinderellas: Migrant Domestics and Newly Rich Employers in Taiwan. Duke University Press.

Weller, R. P. (2006). Discovering Nature: Globalization and Environmental Culture in China and Taiwan. Cambridge University Press.

Cohen, M. L. (2005). Kinship, Contract, Community, and State: Anthropological Perspectives on China. Stanford University Press.

Guy, N. (2005). Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan. University of Illinois Press.

Cauquelin, J. (2004). Aborigines of Taiwan: The Puyuma: From Headhunting to the Modern World. Routledge.

Lee, A. (2004). In the Name of Harmony and Prosperity: Labor and Gender Politics in Taiwan’s Economic Restructuring. State University of New York Press.

Brown, M. J. (2004). Is Taiwan Chinese?: The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing Identities. University of California Press.

Adrian, B. (2003). Framing the Bride: Globalizing Beauty and Romance in Taiwan’s Bridal Industry. University of California Press.

Dell’Orto, A. (2003). Place and Spirit in Taiwan: Tudi Gong in the Stories, Strategies and Memories of Everyday Life. Routledge.

Simon, S. (2003). Sweet and Sour: Life-Worlds of Taipei Women Entrepreneurs. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Lu, H. (2002). The Politics of Locality: Making a Nation of Communities in Taiwan. Psychology Press.

Moskowitz, M. L. (2001). The Haunting Fetus: Abortion, Sexuality, and the Spirit World in Taiwan. University of Hawaii Press.

Weller, R. P. (2001). Alternate Civilities: Democracy And Culture In China And Taiwan. Routledge.

1990s

Hsiung, P.-C. (1996). Living Rooms as Factories: Class, Gender, and the Satelite Factory System in Taiwan. Temple University Press.

Stafford, C. (1995). The Roads of Chinese Childhood: Learning and Identification in Angang. Cambridge University Press.

1980s

Gates, H. (1987). Chinese Working-Class Lives: Getting By in Taiwan. Cornell University Press.

Sangren, P. S. (1987). History and Magical Power in a Chinese Community. Stanford University Press.

Harrell, S. (1982). Ploughshare Village: Culture and Context in Taiwan. University of Washington Press.

1970s

Sangren, P. S. (1979). A Chinese Marketing Community: An Historical Ethnography of Ta-Chʻi, Taiwan. Stanford University.

Cohen, M. (1976). House United, House Divided. Columbia University Press.

Martin, E. (1973). The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village. Stanford University Press.

Jordan, D. K. (1972). Gods, ghosts, and ancestors: The folk religion of a Taiwanese village. University of California Press.

Wolf, M. (1972). Women and the Family in Rural Taiwan. Stanford University Press.