Non-Fiction

The Last Female Miner: Haishan Coal Mine and a Sociologist’s Grandmother

Introduction

This book is a portrait by sociologist Tai Po-fen of her own grandmother as well as a record of the lived experiences of Taiwan’s last generation of female miners. Tai’s grandmother began working in the mines at sixteen, pushing heavy carts and navigating pitch-black tunnels every day. Summer temperatures inside these mines reach 40°C, soaking her clothes in sweat. During her periods, she has no chance to change clothes, making menstrual blood stains a regular embarrassment for all women in the mines. Women also do other work for the mining company aboveground but, despite shouldering difficult assignments and very long hours, their pay is always less than that of men. More than portraying the labor and spirit of women working in the mines, this book offers invaluable firsthand accounts of Taiwan’s mining industry – from the colonial-era Yamamoto Coal Mine to the postwar Haishan Coal Mine.

Info

Category:Non-Fiction
Author:Tai Po-fen
Publisher:SpringHill Publishing Ltd.
Rights Contact:Patience Chuang
Email:patiencechuang@gmail.com
ISBN:9786267236871