Department of Anthropology

Contributors to this special issue examine the intersections and tensions between how diverse families live and the family laws and institutional mechanisms that create the scaffolding for kinship relationships. Using the rubric of “productive encounters” to understand the ongoing engagements of law and family, the authors trace the unfolding of these engagements over a period of colonial and postcolonial reforms and the transitions from authoritarian to a democratic governance in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Topics covered include adoption through false registration in postcolonial South Korea, marriage rights and family equality in Taiwan, and resisting the hegemonic patrilineal family in Japan.

Contributors: Allison Alexy, Amy Brainer, Yi-Chien Chen, Sara L. Friedman, Timothy Gitzen, Kathryn E. Goldfarb, Seung-kyung Kim, Sungyun Lim, and Linda White