Author: Kuo-Hui Chang

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2024-06-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783031597657

The identity of Taiwan is a matter of intense local and international debate. This book shows how engineers helped produce two distinct visions of the land of Taiwan and its people, elevating the value of engineering as a career path in the process. The book describes how technical work of engineers that typically avoids partisan politics, can actually contribute to partisan differences and conflict. In most countries, the rise of engineering is about the emergence of a single dominant vision of the country. In Taiwan, two distinct visions of the land and its people emerged, owing to the presence of two distinct geographical identities--islanders and mainlanders. The distributed mode of production in the electronics industry proved to be transformative and created an “abnormal boys' club” of engineers, as one group called themselves. Because the two communities were influenced by contrasting geographical identities, they felt as though they were working for different Taiwans.