Alumna Professor Fiona Moore publishes new book on Asian skilled labour migrants

fiona moore stood in front of a building,wearing red dress, grey over jacket and holding a red bag.

St Cross alumna Professor Fiona Moore (DPhil Social and Cultural Anthropology, 1997) has published a new book exploring different ways in which Taiwanese expatriates in London and Toronto, along with professionals living in Taipei, use their shared Taiwanese identities to construct and maintain global and local networks.

Her book, 'Global Taiwanese: Asian Skilled Labour Migrants in a Changing World', published by the University of Toronto Press, is based on a five-year-long ethnographic study that incorporates interviews with people from diverse backgrounds, generations, and histories. The book explores what their different experiences tell about migration in “tolerant” and “hostile” regimes.

copy of book 'Global Taiwanese: Asian Skilled Labour Migrants in a Changing World' with picture of a city at night from a rooftop in background

'Global Taiwanese' considers the implications in leveraging their Taiwanese ethnic identity for both business and personal purposes. As people become increasingly mobile, ethnic identity becomes more important as a means of negotiating transnational encounters; however, at the same time, the opportunities it offers are rooted in local cultural practices, requiring professionals and other migrants to develop complex social strategies that link and cross the global and local levels.

Commenting on the publishing of her book, Professor Moore said:

If there’s one thing I hope for my book, it’s that people will read the stories of different labour migrants’ lives, and discover for themselves the sheer diversity of ways in which people can be active participants in global networks. And that they’ll think twice if someone tells them that globalisation is coming to an end!

 

Fiona Moore is a professor in the School of Business and Management at Royal Holloway, University of London, and an author of more than 57 articles and books focusing primarily on gender and ethnic identity, globalisation and nationalism, networking, and how people deal with the changing working world.

 

Header photo: Fiona Moore's personal blog