The 21st EATS Annual Conference

Conference Theme: Conceptualising Gender, Women and LGBTQI+ in / and Taiwan: Subjectivity, Objectivity, and Every Positionality In-Between

Organising institution

The Vienna Center for Taiwan Studies (VCTS) was established in the Sinology Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna in January 2009, and celebrated its 10th anniversary three years ago. The managing director of VCTS arrived in Vienna as an expert in ‘women and law’, which subsequently shaped the centre’s focus on gender, intersectionality, migration studies, literature, and other related areas of research and teaching. In 2018, VCTS expanded its outreach beyond the university by establishing a regular Taiwan film weekend at the Admiral Cinema, held once per term. Through this initiative, VCTS has developed a network of experts and lecturers specialising in Taiwan film.

Local Organiser

Dr. Astrid Lipinsky teaches on gender, society and law in modern China and Taiwan (from 1895) at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. She is also administrative director of the Vienna Center for Taiwan Studies and the editor of the Vienna Taiwan Studies Series (peer-reviewed). From 2014 to 2018, Dr. Lipinsky was a board member of EATS.

Conference theme

The year 2024 marks several pivotal milestones: Tsai Ing-wen will step down after two terms in office, and the 16th president of the Republic of China (ROC) will be elected. It will also be the fifth anniversary of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, prompting a re-evaluation of the concept of ‘women’, gender, and LGBTQI+ beyond its normative biological meaning, and fostering academic debates related to these notions. Five years will have passed since the escalation of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement in Hong Kong, which led to the passing of the Hong Kong National Security Law. This established Taiwan as the only Chinese-speaking region with a vibrant civil society unencumbered by the state. Concepts such as subjectivity, objectivity, positioning, marginalisation, oppression, and emancipation aim to encourage contemplation and discussion with regards to the situation of Taiwanese women and LGBTQI+ individuals, as well as Taiwan itself, in geopolitical, socioeconomic, cultural, and historical contexts.

In this vein, we invite academic contributions from all disciplines that broadly relate to the aforementioned conceptualisation of ‘women’, gender and LGBTQI+, and its subjectivities and agencies.

We suggest the following topics:

  • Women’s roles in society, politics, religion, arts, and more
  • Postcoloniality in Taiwan
  • Remembering and forgetting: Heritage policies in Taiwan
  • Taiwan during and after the pandemic
  • LGBTQI+ rights and gender equality in Taiwan
  • Taiwan in the global context
  • Taiwan in East Asia
  • Intersectionality in literature and film
  • Geopolitics and identities: Taiwanese overseas
  • Diversity and ethnicities
  • Taiwan and Hong Kong

To provide a diverse range of perspectives, the conference invites researchers from various backgrounds and disciplines to share their studies in the aforementioned fields and beyond. We welcome research papers across all periods, aiming to understand both the current situations and the progress made over time.