Hope Talk
希望講堂
Global Hakka, Local Ties: Taiwan Indigenous-Hakka Relations Reframed
全球客家在地化：從台灣原客關係談起
August 24
8月 24日
4:30pm - 6:00pm
About the Program
As a globally dispersed ethnic group, the Hakka people have undergone processes of local adaptation, interethnic interaction, and localization wherever they have settled. A particularly compelling narrative lies in how Hakka communities around the world, in their pursuit of identity, continually seek connection with one another while maintaining deep and complex ties with their places of origin.
Professor Lieh-Shih Lo of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University reexamines the history of Hakka in Taiwan and compares it with Hakka experiences in Southeast Asia, exploring the dynamics of globalization and localization within the Hakka diaspora. The talk also aims to collaborate with Hakka communities in Toronto and Vancouver to sketch a contemporary picture of the Hakka presence in Canada.
Dr. Lieh-Shih Lo is a native speaker of the Hailu variety of Hakka and currently serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Hakka Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Holding a PhD in Anthropology, Dr. Lo is dedicated to building theoretical foundations and conducting ethnographic research in Hakka Studies. His work spans topics such as religious belief, cultural heritage, community building, language transmission, and museum collection and exhibition, with a focus on Hakka communities in both Taiwan and Malaysia.
In recent years, Dr. Lo has undertaken research on the historical and spatial relationships between Indigenous peoples and Hakka communities in northern Taiwan. His work challenges the traditional Han settler-centric historical narrative by adopting a “counter-mapping” approach that centres Indigenous perspectives, aiming to foster meaningful historical dialogue between ethnic groups.
Beyond academia, Dr. Lo has been deeply involved in community revitalisation efforts in Hukou Old Street in Hsinchu. Drawing from this experience, he has also contributed to cultural heritage preservation and revitalisation projects in Siniawan Old Town, Sarawak, Malaysia. In addition, he has served as a curator or consultant for various museum exhibitions, bringing scholarly insight into public cultural work.
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TAIWANfest Toronto is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, that is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered here, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples of this land while we engage in meaningful conversations of culture and reconciliation.