COVID success for whom?: Examining the political representation of migrants in Taiwan
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
- Venue
- Main Building, SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh St, London WC1H 0XG
- Room
- RG01
About this event
The public lecture explores that Taiwan's COVID-19 policies from 2020 to 2022 largely neglect migrants, treating migrant workers as expendable and focusing on protecting migrant spouses.
Taiwan was internationally praised for its COVID-19 success. Neglected in scholarship, however, is how the government represents the interests of migrants in their COVID-19 policies. Using a corpus analysis of the speeches of the Taiwanese policymakers and officials in legislature between 2020 and 2022, we investigate how migrants are represented in Taiwan’s COVID-19 strategy.
Our findings show that policymakers rarely consider migrants when drawing up emergency measures and restrictions. When policymakers do consider migrants, they focus more on migrant workers than migrant spouses. Our findings suggests that policymakers treat migrant workers as disposable commodities and scapegoated while treating migrant spouses as victims who need protection.
Our study offers implications for the underrepresentation of migrants, as well as for the scapegoating of migrant workers and for the savior mentality that policymakers have towards migrant spouses. The study illuminates ways to create an inclusive society where non-citizens’ health and safety are prioritized.
This event is open to public and no need for registration.
Meet the speaker
Dr. Sarah Liu is Senior Lecturer in Gender and Politics at the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her research broadly focuses on the cross-national comparison of gender and politics, specifically the ways in which contexts -- women's political represenation, women's movements, migration in the media, and COVID-19 -- shape the gender gaps in public opinion and political behavior.
Her research has appeared in academic journals, as well as in other major news outlets, such as the Washington Post, Nikkei Asia, France 24, and BBC World News. With a dual PhD in Political Science and Gender Studies, Sarah taught in the U.S. and England before she moved to Scotland.
