The project of decolonization in the 21st century is to identify and analyze the uneven power relation in contemporary societies that engineers and reproduces unequal social relations and environmental injustice. We invite interdisciplinary critical analysis and innovative artistic projects to engage with the task of decolonization in the 21st century:

Temporary transnational migrants have dual identities – they are both workers and foreigners. As workers, their labor conditions should be equally protected as those of local workers; however, as foreigners, they are also affected by border and immigration control. One of the core of this control is to restrict the employment rights of foreigners in the name of protecting the domestic labor market, resulting in differential treatment. In this workshop “Law, Human Rights, and Transnational Labor Mobility”, Dr. Ya-Wen Yang will analyze the impact of Taiwan’s border control on the employment conditions of migrant workers and propose some solutions. Participants are welcome to join the discussion.

Taiwan’s offshore fishing industry is rich in output value, and ranks among the top in the world. In pursuit of higher profits, ship owners often register their vessels in different countries. These “FOC” vessels have become the exceptional zone of law, and the foreign fishermen on the ships become vulnerable to human trafficking, forced labor and other crises. Therefore, the regulation of non-flag states vessels has become an important issue to resolve the human rights crisis at sea. Although FOC vessels do not fly the flag of Taiwan, after these ships enter the port, Taiwan, as a port state, still has legal measures to intervene. In the first workshop of the theme series ” Law, Human right and Transnational Labor Mobility”, Asst. Prof. Ming-Hao Yang will give an insight into Taiwan’s possible solutions to the human rights crisis on FOC vessels.