Mapping the Taiwan Studies Field

Abstract

There are legitimate concerns about the health and sustainability of the Taiwan Studies field. However our understanding of the contours of the field, indeed our understanding of what Taiwan studies mean, is limited. Using newly collected empirical data on research output and a survey of the attitudes of Taiwan scholars in the west and in Taiwan this article provides a starting point for mapping the field. The article finds that, while generally buoyant, Taiwan studies face several divisions, for example between western and Taiwan-based scholars, between English and Chinese language research and between area specialists and disciplinary specialists. These divisions contribute to a research field that, as we show empirically, is relatively low on collaboration, is dominated by political science, and is disseminated in lower impact journals. The article concludes with some suggestions for addressing these problems.