Labor migration from Southeast Asia to Taiwan: issues, public responses and future development

Purpose – This paper is mainly focused on labor migration from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, showing a route of
south–south mobility and discussing the causes of migrant workers in Taiwan, the issues faced by migrant
workers as well as public response to migrant workers.
Design/methodology/approach – Besides a literate review on the topic of migrant worker researches in
Taiwan, the data for this research was also based on qualitative interviews and observations conducted both in
the fieldwork in Taiwan and in Indonesia between June and August during the summer of 2018.
Findings – The transnational mobility let many migrants from Southeast Asian countries to Taiwan end up
losing their cultural capital and “make money” instead. For these migrants, they have experienced a downward
social mobility of class through transnational mobility.
Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may
lack generalizability. More migrant laborers from various origin countries were encouraged to include for
further research.
Practical implications – Labor migration cases from Southeast Asia to Taiwan could very well serve as
good examples in the carrying out of a reflection on the limit of focusing on social science only inside nationstates
in order to push a forward thinking on the transnationalization of social inequality.
Originality/value – This paper calls attention to the close linkage between transnational mobility and social
inequality. It showed how the transnationalization of social inequality could get new faces through the new
waves of labor migration