“What is colonization? What is decolonization?” From August 10th to 15th, 2023, the International Institute for Culture Studies at NYCU (ICCS-NYCU) hosted the 2023 Summer School of Association for Cultural Studies (ACS). The event marked the first time for ACS to hold its summer school in Asia and attracted over 100 participants from 17 countries, including experts, scholars, and young students worldwide. Together, they focused on exploring 21st-century colonial structures, particularly various forms of social inequality faced globally under the impact of COVID-19. These issues include immigration, transnational migrant workers, environmental crises, artistic interventions, and other issues closely related to our daily lives or frequently discussed.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, chaos appeared worldwide with problems such as face mask shortages, product hoarding, and even discrimination against Asian individuals in Western countries. One of the roundtable discussions during the event focused on a group of Asian American women who formed Auntie Sewing Squad, a mutual aid organization when the United States faced a severe shortage of personal protective equipment during the pandemic outbreak. They volunteered to sew face masks for those in need, which not only had significant public health implications but also initiated a dialogue on unity, care, and hands-on labor in response to issues related to immigration, exploitation, and even racial or gender oppression in our society.
Another issue that gained wide attention during the pandemic was the rapid development of platform economics, especially in the Philippines, India, and other Global South regions. Platform economics creates challenges such as protecting platform workers’ rights, services provided by remote work, the spread of fake news, the operation of scam groups, illegal digital lending programs, and many more. The event also explored the situation of ethnic minority individuals working as delivery riders for food delivery platforms in Hong Kong. Under the business model driven by algorithms, some jobs became more accessible with increased flexibility, seemingly benefiting workers. However, these workers also faced increased control and surveillance. When these workers are ethnic minorities, the issues involved are not only about the instability brought by the gig economy but also about tangible or intangible racial discrimination that worsens the instability. Taiwan’s high usage of food delivery platforms during the pandemic has also sparked many discussions. Therefore, this discussion on “ethnic labor agency” is not limited to Hong Kong. It also applies to Taiwan and other inter-Asian countries, making it an Asian-scale research project.
On August 15th, ICCS-NYCU, the host institution, brought the participants in local field activities. They visited organic farms in Emei Township, Hsinchu, to learn about local practices of rice-duck symbiosis, organic farming, and the culture of irrigation channels. They also explored Hakka settlements’ history and traditional architecture in Beipu Township.
This international exchange event was jointly organized by ICCS-NYCU and the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University (ICS-WSU), with co-sponsorship from the Calcutta Research Group in India, the Department of Culture Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, and others. Participants came from prestigious academic institutions worldwide, including Asia Research Institute and their partner institutes such as Western Sydney University (Australia), the Calcutta Research Group (India), Hanyang University (South Korea), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia), Lingnan University (Hong Kong), and Mahidol University (Thailand).
The event’s opening day also marked the launch of the “Transit Asia Research Network” (TARN). TARN aims to promote the next five-year project of ICCS-NYCU jointly, that is, “Conflict, Justice, and Decolonization: Asia in Transition in the 21st Century.” ICCS will continue to promote interdisciplinary, inter-university, and international collaborations in humanities, social sciences, and the arts by establishing global connections.