In the Global Vanguard

In just half a century, Taiwan transformed from an agricultural colony into an economic power, spurred by land reform efforts of the authoritarian Republic of China, by farmers associations, and by 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 exported the country’s agrarian success 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 portrayed in Taiwan as proof of the Republic of China’s modernity and were crucial to how the ruling government sought to hold on to its contested position in the international system and its rule by martial law at home.

“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

“Lin’s compelling study of the ‘agrarian miracle’ in Taiwan is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the global Green Revolution, shedding 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 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.” — J. MEGAN GREENE, Professor of History, University of Kansas

JAMES LIN is Assistant Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle.