Rural dreams and constrained cosmopolitanism: Taiwanese working holiday makers in rural and regional Australia

Taiwanese Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) are one of the largest WHM cohorts in Australia. While mainstream media and public discourse often portray them as exploited labourers in precarious rural employment, this paper challenges such portrayals by highlighting the agency and diverse experiences of Taiwanese WHMs. Driven by their perceptions of a ‘rural idyll,’ many Taiwanese youth actively choose to work and live in rural and regional areas beyond merely fulfilling visa requirements. Taiwanese WHMs also seek to embrace a version of rural cosmopolitanism and cultural diversity. Despite structural constraints imposed by precarious employment and tied accommodation, and a labour regime that discourages social interaction, WHMs actively shape their transnational experiences rather than being solely passive workers. This paper thus contributes to a nuanced understanding of how rural spaces are imagined and experienced by temporary migrants in a globalised labour regime.