Jun-Hua Lin
Multiple Modernities and Modernization
Supervisors: Professor Peter Jackson and Dr Tariq Jazeel
Background
BSc Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (2001)
MSc Human Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (2003)
Research interests
Accumulated from the former research on characteristics of symbolic landscapes, luxurious condominiums and the production of high-rises in Taipei City, Taiwan, my interest has grown in the field of production of space, especially in the bloc of city builders, and meaning, representation and themes of symbolic landscapes in developing global cities in East Asia.
Following the former research topics, my recent interests have turned to the research of the relationship between various symbolic spaces and modernization in new countries. It is matter because people nowadays are living in the modern world and are influenced by the modern thoughts. Under Marshall Berman's (1982) idea and David Harvey's (2003) point of views, being modern means being in the condition which is full of new thoughts and innovation in society. It is a kind of historical break, especially a radical break with the past. Therefore, the anxiety to establish the image of modernization becomes one of the significant projects for a new country in postcolonial context. The process of modernization can create a new image of development, and can also build self-identity and self-esteem for a new country in generally speaking.
Secondly, the other significant interest in my research is the variety of modernization. Though the process of modernization is leaded by specific sectors and is influenced by globalization so much, it is not a uniform one still under different historical, social and cultural contexts. And because shaped and practiced by different sectors and ordinary residents in different contexts, modernization and modernity should be like a complex of amoeba and sponge full of the characteristics of flexibility, absorbency, and changeability.
Following these interests, the research aims of mine will be to explore the historical context of the modernization in Taiwan first at all. Secondly, the research will also discover different production of modernities in two case studies in Taipei city, Taiwan. And thirdly, I will also explore how modernities are practiced, experienced and reproduced by ordinary people in everyday life
Conferences Attended
Lin, Jun-Hua, Becoming more Entrepreneurial by the Transition of Spatial and Financial Strategies? The case study of Taipei City. Oral presentation at the 9th Asian Urbanization Conference, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea, 18-23 August 2007
Lin, Jun-Hua and Sue-Ching Jou, Themed City/Space: Representations of Luxurious Condominiums in Taipei´s New City Center. Oral presentation at the 4th East Asian Regional Conferences in Alternative Geography, Taipei, Taiwan, 24-30 June 2006.
Lin, Jun-Hua, High-Income Housing and Building Blocs: the Case Study of Luxurious Condominiums in Taipei's Xinyi Center. Oral presentation at International Conference on Urban Changes in the 21st Century, Shanghai, China, 30 June – 1 July 2004.
Publications
Jou, Sue-Ching and Jun-Hua Lin (2008). Racing for the Sky: The local context of high-rise building construction in Taipei, Journal of City and Planning, 35(1), 1-28.
Lin, Jun-Hua & Sue-Ching Jou (2005). High-income Housing and their Building Blocs in Taipei: a case study of luxurious condominiums in Xinyi Center, Journal of Geographical Science, 40, 17-43.
Lin, Jun-Hua (2004). The Luxurious Condominiums in Xinyi-Plannig District in Taipei, TWArchitect Magazine, 356, 76-83.
Contact Details
Emails or snail mails are always welcomed if you are also interested in the topics of modernization, modernity and symbolic/significant spaces/landscapes.
Address: University of Sheffield, Department of Geography, Winter Street, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 7132
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 7907
Email: ggp06jl@sheffield.ac.uk