Globalization, Human Rights and Social Exclusion: Marital Migrants in Taiwan

In the process of globalization, the number of transnational immigrants who travel across borders for economic and marital purposes has increased rapidly. At the same time, social exclusion, witnessed everywhere in the world, has affected female marital immigrants most seriously. Most female migrants come to Taiwan for one of the two aforementioned reasons and many face problems of social adaptation, and are vulnerable to social exclusion. This paper first examines the relevant theories of social exclusion. Then it discusses Taiwan¡¯s foreign brides¡¯ policy, as a labor policy of Taiwan that originated from the European Union¡¯s policies to combat social exclusion. The paper goes on to discuss the missing force in the formation of labor policies in Taiwan through the examination of the policy dialogue between the European Union and member states with regard to combating social exclusion. It is shown that the EU¡¯s policies to combat social exclusion mainly respond to the pressure of social inclusion within the European society and related social exclusion problems in the member states. In conclusion, this paper addresses the issue of structural obstacles such as conventional ideology that impedes the foreign brides from making a smooth adaptation to their new environment.