Taiwan’s Regime of Temporary Migrant Labor

[English] – On July 7, 2025, Asian Labour Review published two related papers written by Samia Dinkelaker and Ralf Ruckus. The first one, Taiwan’s Regime of Temporary Migrant Labour: An Overview, shortly describes distinct phases of that regime and serves as a summary of the second paper: Taiwan’s Regime of Temporary Migrant Labour: Timeline of Changes, a detailed chronology of state regulations, migrant protests, local support, and other important events from the mid-1980s to the present.

Indonesische Wanderarbeiter:innen in den Fabriken Taiwans

[Deutsch] – In ihrem Buchbeitrag "Anmerkungen zur Klassenzusammensetzung indonesischer Wanderarbeiter:innen in den Fabriken Taiwans" erläutern Samia Dinkelaker und Ralf Ruckus die Bedingungen der Wanderarbeit und schildern den Eigensinn und die Kämpfe in Taiwan beschäftigter indonesischer Fabrikarbeiter:innen. Der Beitrag ist Teil des Buches Klassensolidarität, Autonomie, Selbstorganisation. Erfahrungen und Reflexionen von unten, herausgegeben von M. Lautréamont (Unrast-Verlag, August 2024).

“We still have a long way to go”: Interview on Taiwan’s Migration Regime

[English] – On March 4. 2024, the Asian Labour Review published an interview that Samia Dinkelaker and Ralf Ruckus conducted with Chen Su-hsiang and Wu Jing-ru, both members of TIWA (Taiwan International Workers’ Association). Su-hsiang and Jing-ru trace how Taiwan’s labor migration policies have changed over the years and which role migrant workers’ demands as well as the support activities of TIWA and others have played in this development: “We still have a long way to go”: On Taiwan’s Migration Regime since the 1990s.

The Class Composition of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Taiwan

[English] – On November 30, 2023, Asian Labour Review published the article Sweatshops and Assembly Halls. The Class Composition of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Taiwan’s Manufacturing Industry by Samia Dinkelaker and Ralf Ruckus. The article sketches out the concept of class composition and applies it to Taiwan's migration regime and the everyday struggles of Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwanese factories and their forms of organizing outside their workplaces.

Southern Riot

[English] – On August 16, 2023, New Bloom Magazine published an article written by Ralf Ruckus on the punk band Southern Riot, the members' daily experiences as migrant workers, their music and their lyrics in which they attack the "system of slavery" migrant workers from Southeast Asia are subjected to by Taiwans racist migration regime: Southern Riot: Indonesian Migrant Workers Use Punk Music to Claim Improvements in Taiwan.