Experiences of ethnic discrimination: Potentials for social change in Taiwan

In the ethnically homogenous Taiwan, discrimination is considered insignificant, and normative cultural attitudes are left unexamined. From data collected through interviews, observation and document analysis, this chapter explores black people’s experiences in the country. The findings document significant stigmatisation and discrimination, which provides a basis for discussing challenges and potentials for anti-discriminatory social work and how to critically reflect on these issues. As we wish to be aware of reproductive elements of normative group categorisations, intersectionality serves as an approach to critical reflection. The analyses emphasise intersectionality because individual and structural discrimination are closely connected, which necessitates approaches that take complexity into consideration. Whether discrimination is conceived as acts of ideology or ignorance, social change is a matter of critical reflection in social work, and we argue that it should then become a substantial part of social work training – and of social work practice.