A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.
In just half a century, Taiwan transformed from an agricultural colony into an economic power, spurred by efforts of the authoritarian Republic of China government in land reform, farmers associations, and improved crop varieties. Yet overlooked is how Taiwan brought these practices to the developing world.
In the Global Vanguard elucidates the history and impact of the “Taiwan model” of agrarian development by incorporating how Taiwanese experts took the country’s agrarian success and exported it throughout rural communities across Africa and Southeast Asia. Driven by the global Cold War and challenges to the Republic of China’s legitimacy, Taiwanese agricultural technicians and scientists shared their practices, which they claimed were better suited for poor, tropical societies in the developing world. These development missions, James Lin argues, were projected in Taiwan as proof of the ruling government’s modernity and technical prowess and were crucial to how the state sought to hold onto its contested position in the international system and its rule by martial law at home.
James Lin is Assistant Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle.
"Development is not just about economics. Plans for social change come embedded in stories that explain who the modernizers are and what they stand for. James Lin vividly recounts how Taiwan became legendary worldwide as a pioneer of rural reform, and how that image came to define it as a nation."—Nick Cullather, author of The Hungry World: America's Cold War Battle against Poverty in Asia
"James Lin’s compelling study of the ‘agrarian miracle’ in Taiwan is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the global Green Revolution. Meanwhile, his critical exploration of development, as concept and process, sheds new light on technoscience, authoritarianism, social change, and Taiwanese identity at home and on the world stage."—Sigrid Schmalzer, author of Red Revolution, Green Revolution: Scientific Farming in Socialist China
"Lin’s thoroughly researched book reveals the complex interplay between the field of agriculture, domestic politics in Taiwan, and geopolitics. Examining the south-south development activities of Taiwan’s agricultural practitioners, Lin complicates the larger narrative of mid-twentieth-century global agricultural development practices. His richly detailed exploration of the history of agricultural development in Taiwan also adds depth to our understanding of Taiwan’s developmentalist approach, which has mostly been studied only in the industrial realm."—J. Megan Greene, Professor of History, University of Kansas
290 pp.6 x 9Illus: 29 b/w images, 9 color images, and 1 table
9780520398665$34.95|£30.00Paper
Apr 2025