Hope and Uncertainty at the Periphery in Global Times: youth employment in kinmen, Taiwan

Chin-Yi Yang, Anita Koo*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Kinmen, located in Taiwan’s remote border area, has become increasingly embedded in the global economy by opening its border for trade and tourism with China. Previous rural youth studies mainly focus on decisions and experiences of migration while neglecting the experiences of those who stay in their hometown. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the experiences and subjectivities of young people who stay in the periphery for adulthood transitions. Based on our ethnographic data gathered in Kinmen, it shows how the enlarged employment with the new markets supported by Chinese tourists bring hope for the youth. At the same time, our findings explore how the highly dependent tourism economy and the overdependence on a single source of tourists bring them worry and uncertainty. Analyses of the paper highlight spatial elements in the economic, cultural and political processes of structuring young people’s lives and subjectivities under globalization.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Youth Studies
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 26 Dec 2021

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Social Sciences(all)
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies
  • Sociology and Political Science

User-Defined Keywords

  • globalization
  • periphery
  • transnational capitalism
  • Youth employment

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