Thursday, March 01, 2012

Two New Books on Taiwan

H-ASIA passed around the following, excerpted from a post from the Association for Asian Studies: Important New Books from the Association for Asian Studies (For a full list of AAS publications, please visit their website):

An essential book for scholars of East Asian history, PRESCRIBING COLONIZATION: THE ROLE OF MEDICAL PRACTICES AND POLICIES IN JAPAN-RULED TAIWAN, 1895-1945 (by Michael Shiyung Liu) addresses the impact of Western-influenced Japanese medicine on medical practices in Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule and examines the role colonial medicine played in Japanese empire building. "Through this vivid analysis of the institutions, people, and ideals of Japanese state medicine in the 'model colony' of Taiwan, Prescribing Colonization clearly reveals the commonalities and contrasts between Asian and European imperialisms. Prescribing Colonization is a vital contribution to the global history of colonial medicine, while scholars of twentieth-century East Asia will find within its pages a key to understanding the successes and failures of the Japanese empire". (Ruth Rogaski, Vanderbilt University).

Concise yet comprehensive, UNDERSTANDING EAST ASIA'S ECONOMIC "MIRACLES" (by Zhiqun Zhu) is the perfect introduction to the political economy of East Asia for undergraduate and advanced high school classes. Zhu's analysis of the economic ?miracles? of Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan takes into account both domestic factors and the international environment, and is sensitive to the similarities as well as differences between the developmental experiences of these nations. Zhu raises important related issues such as the connections between economic development and democratization, the relative economic contributions of the state and the market, and the portability of the East Asian developmental model. A glossary of abbreviations, timeline, and extensive bibliography add to the pedagogical values of this booklet (Robert Y. Eng, University of Redlands, ASIANetwork Board of Directors).

_______________________
Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

1 comment:

Rand Luger said...

Oh wow. The US is getting absolutely childish now. No visit by commerce undersecretary because of beef issue?

This is the issue. Taiwan *DOESN'T* allow it's own farmers to use these leaning drugs. This is not a fair trade issue. It's the same rules for domestic producers as it is for foreign producers. In fact, the US raises a separate herd of cattle to sell to the EU because the EU bans leaning drugs as well! Why doesn't the US just press for sales of that herd in Taiwan? This whole thing is completely defying logic about US interests now... I doubt even the most cynical observers would predict particular beef lobbyists having such immense sway over foreign policy with a crucial key East Asian ally.

Your US tax dollars, hard at work...