Colonized since the 1600s, Taiwan is largely a nation of settlers. Yet within its population of 23 million are some 500,000 Aboriginal people. Genetic research has permeated both the political and popular spheres as Taiwanese nationalists and Chinese nationalists argue over the significance of migration theories and as the media proliferates genetic theories on predispositions to alcoholism. As this book demonstrates, genetics serve, on the one hand, to reinforce claims to a unique national identity and, on the other hand, to reinforce anti-Aboriginal prejudices. Increasingly, genetic research on Aborigines is being integrated into biotechnology planning, both in the country and through controversial US patent applications. The legacy of this work has been mass violations of the rights of Taiwanese Aborigines. Examining a troubling revival of racially configured genetic research and the questions of sovereignty it raises, Living Dead in the Pacific details a history of exploitation and resistance that represents a new area of conflict facing Aboriginal people both within Taiwan and around the world.

A powerful indictment of racially configured genetic research that has been conducted on the Aboriginal people of Taiwan over the past thirty years.

About the Author

Mark Munsterhjelm teaches in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology at the University of Windsor.

Awards
Winner of Gertrude J. Robinson Book Prize, Canadian Communication Association 2015 (Canada).



Book Information
ISBN 9780774826600
Author Mark Munsterhjelm
Format Paperback
Page Count 292
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 430g