Voices From the Liminal Zones: Intersectionality and Diaspora in a Geopoliticized Asia

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

This panel consists of four papers which investigate the problems diasporas encounter in the societies they have immigrated and settled. Their marginalized status and experiences render them liminal people or “in-betweeners,” seemingly caught in the ambivalent space and time, where they cannot be clearly defined. Their experiences are further complicated by other conditions in life, such as gender and class. Thus, diasporas face intersectionality, that is dual or multiple marginalization caused by their ethnicity, gender, class, and religion. We attempt to shed a light on their stories that are often neglected in the mainstream national historic narratives, media, and everyday politics. In many counties, they have become the victims of euphemism of “multiculturalism” and myth of “monoethnicity.” The four papers in the panel undertake the task of problematizing hegemonic ethnic discourses by focusing on ethnic minorities—visible as well as less-visible ones—, their intersectionality and diasporic experiences. Amae explores the social history of ethnic Koreans in Taiwan, especially second generation women and their experiences in colonial and postcolonial Taiwan. Tsai examines Hakka women in Indonesia and gender relations revealed in the process of their conversion to Islam. Burghart investigates the issue of t’albukmin, North Korean diaspora in South Korea. She discusses the politics of invisibility of this “pseudo-ethnic group” in a highly monoethnicized South Korea. Corcuff revisits the notion of liminality through the story of a Chinese Mainlander and his journey between shifting identities, taking into account the complex geopolitical situation in which Taiwan is situated.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing-Diaspora

Session Organizer

• Yoshihisa Amae, Chang Jung Christian University

Chair

• Yoshihisa Amae, Chang Jung Christian University

Individual Presentations

• Intersectionality of Gender, Ethnicity and Religion: Hakka Muslims in Singkawang and Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Fen-fang Tsai, National Central University, Taiwan

• Intersectionality and Diaspora in South Korea: “Pseudo-ethnicity,” Gender and the Invisibility of T’albukmin - Sabine Burghart, University of Vienna

• Between Liminalities: The Identification Itinerary of a Common Mainlander in Taiwan - Stephane Bruno Corcuff, French Center for Research on Contemporary China

• From Route to Root: Ethnic Koreans and Their Liminal Experiences in Colonial and Postcolonial Taiwan - Yoshihisa Amae, Chang Jung Christian University

Discussant

• Hiroko Matsuda, Kobe Gakuin University