- Published on
On October 3, 2014, the Taiwan Democracy Project will kick off our yearly speaker series with a seminar by Scott Simon on the politics of indigenous rights in Taiwan. Prof. Simon is an anthropologist in the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies at the University of Ottawa, where he holds the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies. His talk is entitled, "All Our Relations: Indigenous Rights Movements and the Bureaucratization of Indigeneity in Taiwan." The abstract is below. The talk is free and open to the public; you are encouraged to RSVP at the official event page here.
Prof. Simon holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from McGill University, and began his career working in the anthropology of development. His previous publications include Tanners of Taiwan: Life Strategies and National Cultures (2005) and Sweet and Sour: Life-Worlds of Taipei Women Entrepreneurs (2003). Since 2004, he has worked extensively on ethnographic research with Truku and Sediq groups in both Hualien and Nantou counties, which formed the basis for his most recent book, published in French: Sadyaq Balae!: L'Autochtonie Formosane dans Tout Ses États (2012). Today, he is one of the most prominent scholars writing on the Taiwanese state's relations with indigenous "aborigines" (原住民), who by official counts make up about two percent of the island's population.
Prof. Simon holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from McGill University, and began his career working in the anthropology of development. His previous publications include Tanners of Taiwan: Life Strategies and National Cultures (2005) and Sweet and Sour: Life-Worlds of Taipei Women Entrepreneurs (2003). Since 2004, he has worked extensively on ethnographic research with Truku and Sediq groups in both Hualien and Nantou counties, which formed the basis for his most recent book, published in French: Sadyaq Balae!: L'Autochtonie Formosane dans Tout Ses États (2012). Today, he is one of the most prominent scholars writing on the Taiwanese state's relations with indigenous "aborigines" (原住民), who by official counts make up about two percent of the island's population.
All Our Relations: Indigenous Rights Movements and the Bureaucratization of Indigeneity in Taiwan
Taiwan’s indigenous social movement, active since the 1980s, has successfully lobbied to get indigenous rights included in the Republic of China Constitution, to create a cabinet level Council of Indigenous Peoples, and to pass the 2005 Basic Law on Indigenous Peoples. Taiwan’s indigenous social activists have also become regular participants in United Nations indigenous events. Especially during the Chen Shui-bian presidency, foreign observers often suspected that the state instrumentalized “indigeneity” to claim a distinct identity from China. Events since 2008, however, demonstrate that the indigenous rights movement has maintained its own momentum and that the indigenous peoples have interests that cannot be reduced to issues of national identity or party politics. In fact, the indigenous people overwhelmingly support the KMT, and indigenous movements are involved in both “pro-unification” and “pro-independence” political networks. Most indigenous social movement leaders, as well as ordinary indigenous people, hope that their movement can make progress in indigenous rights in ways that transcend the “blue” and “green” division between Han Taiwanese. This talk will explore the diversity of the indigenous movements, their mobilization strategies, and values since Ma Ying-jeou was elected President of the ROC in 2008.
Taiwan’s indigenous social movement, active since the 1980s, has successfully lobbied to get indigenous rights included in the Republic of China Constitution, to create a cabinet level Council of Indigenous Peoples, and to pass the 2005 Basic Law on Indigenous Peoples. Taiwan’s indigenous social activists have also become regular participants in United Nations indigenous events. Especially during the Chen Shui-bian presidency, foreign observers often suspected that the state instrumentalized “indigeneity” to claim a distinct identity from China. Events since 2008, however, demonstrate that the indigenous rights movement has maintained its own momentum and that the indigenous peoples have interests that cannot be reduced to issues of national identity or party politics. In fact, the indigenous people overwhelmingly support the KMT, and indigenous movements are involved in both “pro-unification” and “pro-independence” political networks. Most indigenous social movement leaders, as well as ordinary indigenous people, hope that their movement can make progress in indigenous rights in ways that transcend the “blue” and “green” division between Han Taiwanese. This talk will explore the diversity of the indigenous movements, their mobilization strategies, and values since Ma Ying-jeou was elected President of the ROC in 2008.
- Published on
Worth checking out if you are in Taiwan over the next two months: on August 11, the 2014 Asian Barometer Conference (conference website not yet available) at National Taiwan University; and on September 15-17, the 2014 International Conference on Formosan Indigenous Peoples: Contemporary Perspectives, at Academia Sincia (conference website here.) The Taiwan Democracy Project and CDDRL are co-sponsoring the first. I will post more info here as it becomes available. Descriptions below.
Democracy in a Divided Society: East Asia in Comparative Perspective
An Asian Barometer Workshop
Organized by Program for East Asia Democratic Studies, IAS-NTU
Co-Sponsored by the Asian Democracy Research Network and
Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law, Stanford University
Taipei, Taiwan, August 10-12, 2014
This workshop seeks to examine the functioning of democracy in divided societies by bringing together leading scholars from Asia and the United States. In particular, the workshop will focus on the politics of polarization: how it erodes or cripples young democracies in Asia and how we might mitigate its damaging effects. The on-going political crisis in Thailand and Taiwan timely reminds us how fragile young democracies can become when the push comes to shove. Most East Asian young and emerging democracies suffer from politics of polarization to some extent, including Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. In a broader context, this problem has become epidemic as riot police trying to ward off angry demonstrators in Ukraine and Turkey. While the focus is on East Asia, our colleagues from the United States will help us to cast the regional experiences in comparative perspective. Some of our paper contributors will use data from the Asian Barometer Survey (ABS Wave III) as this cross-national data base provides rich source for individual-country investigation and for region-wide comparative analysis. Other contributors might employ historical, institutional, cultural or structural approaches to tackle the issue. We encourage innovative ways to combine survey data with macro-level factors, such as institutional design, culture, ethnicity, religion and class structure. We hope to evoke synthesis about the impact social division on the functioning of democracy and identify the institutional designs and compensating measures to moderate the tension. All country studies are encouraged to address some institutional arrangements, electoral institution or government structure, and other socioeconomic measures which could moderate or exacerbate the conflicts.
An Asian Barometer Workshop
Organized by Program for East Asia Democratic Studies, IAS-NTU
Co-Sponsored by the Asian Democracy Research Network and
Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law, Stanford University
Taipei, Taiwan, August 10-12, 2014
This workshop seeks to examine the functioning of democracy in divided societies by bringing together leading scholars from Asia and the United States. In particular, the workshop will focus on the politics of polarization: how it erodes or cripples young democracies in Asia and how we might mitigate its damaging effects. The on-going political crisis in Thailand and Taiwan timely reminds us how fragile young democracies can become when the push comes to shove. Most East Asian young and emerging democracies suffer from politics of polarization to some extent, including Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. In a broader context, this problem has become epidemic as riot police trying to ward off angry demonstrators in Ukraine and Turkey. While the focus is on East Asia, our colleagues from the United States will help us to cast the regional experiences in comparative perspective. Some of our paper contributors will use data from the Asian Barometer Survey (ABS Wave III) as this cross-national data base provides rich source for individual-country investigation and for region-wide comparative analysis. Other contributors might employ historical, institutional, cultural or structural approaches to tackle the issue. We encourage innovative ways to combine survey data with macro-level factors, such as institutional design, culture, ethnicity, religion and class structure. We hope to evoke synthesis about the impact social division on the functioning of democracy and identify the institutional designs and compensating measures to moderate the tension. All country studies are encouraged to address some institutional arrangements, electoral institution or government structure, and other socioeconomic measures which could moderate or exacerbate the conflicts.
2014 International Conference on Formosan Indigenous Peoples: A Contemporary Perspective
Organized by:
Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica;
ROC Council of Indigenous Peoples;
Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines;
And co-sponsored by:
Centre of Taiwan Studies, SOAS, University of London;
European Association of Taiwan Studies
This year marks the 15 years since we had the First International Conference on Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples in 1999. Taiwanese indigenous peoples have encountered dramatic socio-cultural and environmental changes in recent years, including the rectification of indigenous people’s names that have created new tribes for indigenous peoples, the passage of indigenous people’s basic rights in the legislation, the increase of natural calamities that threaten their living environments, and so on and so forth. All these developments require new research and discussions. The Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, and Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, with funding support from the Council of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples of the Executive Yuan, will cooperate again to hold the Second International Conference on Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples from September 15 through 17, 2014, at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica.
Organized by:
Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica;
ROC Council of Indigenous Peoples;
Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines;
And co-sponsored by:
Centre of Taiwan Studies, SOAS, University of London;
European Association of Taiwan Studies
This year marks the 15 years since we had the First International Conference on Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples in 1999. Taiwanese indigenous peoples have encountered dramatic socio-cultural and environmental changes in recent years, including the rectification of indigenous people’s names that have created new tribes for indigenous peoples, the passage of indigenous people’s basic rights in the legislation, the increase of natural calamities that threaten their living environments, and so on and so forth. All these developments require new research and discussions. The Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, and Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, with funding support from the Council of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples of the Executive Yuan, will cooperate again to hold the Second International Conference on Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples from September 15 through 17, 2014, at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica.
- Published on
On May 5, 2014, the Taiwan Democracy Project will welcome Roselyn Hsueh to Stanford for a very timely talk on the politics of trade in Taiwan. Dr. Hsueh is an assistant professor of political science at Temple University and a visiting scholar in the Religion, Politics, and Globalization Program at U.C. Berkeley. Her talk is entitled, "Economies and Identities: The Politics of Taiwan's Globalization in the Age of China." The talk is free and open to the public, although you are encouraged to RSVP to alice.carter@stanford.edu. The talk abstract is below. UPDATE: The official event page is here.
Professor Hsueh's research focuses on the politics of market reform, comparative capitalism, development, and other areas of international and comparative political economy. Her publications include China’s Regulatory State: A New Strategy for Globalization (Cornell University Press, 2011) and “China and India in the Age of Globalization: Sectoral Variation in Postliberalization Reregulation,” Comparative Political Studies 45 (2012): 32-61. She received her Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and has served as a Hayward R. Alker Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California and conducted research as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Professor Hsueh's research focuses on the politics of market reform, comparative capitalism, development, and other areas of international and comparative political economy. Her publications include China’s Regulatory State: A New Strategy for Globalization (Cornell University Press, 2011) and “China and India in the Age of Globalization: Sectoral Variation in Postliberalization Reregulation,” Comparative Political Studies 45 (2012): 32-61. She received her Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and has served as a Hayward R. Alker Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California and conducted research as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Economies and Identities: The Politics of Taiwan’s Globalization in the Age of China
For several weeks in March and April, university students in Taiwan camped out in the legislative and cabinet offices to protest the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services between China and Taiwan. Joined by hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese, spilling out to the streets, the demonstrators claim President Ma Ying-jeou negotiated the agreement with China without seeking any public input and bypassing the legislative process entirely. Implications of this historical social movement include the functioning of Taiwan’s democratic institutions, which have undergone regime change but democratic consolidation remains in question. Additionally, a potential cross-strait crisis can affect U.S.-China relations in the post-Cold War era. Two important forces are also at play: China’s meteoric playing-by-its-own-rules economic rise, and the evolving Taiwanese national identity after its transition to democracy. This talk will center on the national-specific consequences of liberal trade and democracy for Taiwan’s economic globalization and political development.
For several weeks in March and April, university students in Taiwan camped out in the legislative and cabinet offices to protest the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services between China and Taiwan. Joined by hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese, spilling out to the streets, the demonstrators claim President Ma Ying-jeou negotiated the agreement with China without seeking any public input and bypassing the legislative process entirely. Implications of this historical social movement include the functioning of Taiwan’s democratic institutions, which have undergone regime change but democratic consolidation remains in question. Additionally, a potential cross-strait crisis can affect U.S.-China relations in the post-Cold War era. Two important forces are also at play: China’s meteoric playing-by-its-own-rules economic rise, and the evolving Taiwanese national identity after its transition to democracy. This talk will center on the national-specific consequences of liberal trade and democracy for Taiwan’s economic globalization and political development.
- Published on
On Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the Taiwan Democracy Project at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) will host a special event featuring President Ma Ying-jeou of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Co-sponsored with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of San Francisco and the Office of the President of the Republic of China, the event will feature a pre-recorded video address by President Ma on U.S.-Taiwan economic and trade relations.
The address will be followed by a panel discussion featuring leading Stanford faculty and fellows, including Thomas Fingar, the Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, and Larry Diamond, director of CDDRL. The panelists will respond to President Ma's remarks and comment on the recent dramatic events in Taiwan, including the ongoing occupation of the Legislative Yuan by students opposed to the cross-Strait services trade agreement.
The event will take place from 12-1:30pm in the East Room of the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University, 616 Serra Street. It is free and open to the public, and a light lunch will be served. However, due to space limitations, RSVP is required and will be enforced at the door, and as of now the event is fully subscribed. If you wish to be added to the wait list, you are encouraged to email Alice Carter at alice.carter@stanford.edu.
The address will be followed by a panel discussion featuring leading Stanford faculty and fellows, including Thomas Fingar, the Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, and Larry Diamond, director of CDDRL. The panelists will respond to President Ma's remarks and comment on the recent dramatic events in Taiwan, including the ongoing occupation of the Legislative Yuan by students opposed to the cross-Strait services trade agreement.
The event will take place from 12-1:30pm in the East Room of the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University, 616 Serra Street. It is free and open to the public, and a light lunch will be served. However, due to space limitations, RSVP is required and will be enforced at the door, and as of now the event is fully subscribed. If you wish to be added to the wait list, you are encouraged to email Alice Carter at alice.carter@stanford.edu.
UPDATE: The video of this event is now available online, here.
- Published on
On February 28, the Taiwan Democracy Project hosted a talk by Dean Chen, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Salameno School of Humanities and Global Studies, Ramapo College of New Jersey. Prof. Chen's talk was entitled "The Origins and Development of Taiwan's Policies toward Overseas Citizens' Participation in Homeland Governance and Policymaking." The event page can be found here.
Prof. Chen's expertise is in international politics, U.S.-China-Taiwan trilateral relations, and governance and institutions of China and Taiwan. His most recent publications include Sustaining the Triangular Balance: The Taiwan Strait Policy of Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, and Ma Ying-jeou (Univ. of Maryland School of Law, 2013), U.S. Taiwan Strait Policy: The Origins of Strategic Ambiguity (Lynne Rienner, 2012), and "The Evolution of Taiwan's Policies toward the Political Participation of Citizens Abroad in Homeland Governance," with Pei-te Lin.
Prof. Chen's expertise is in international politics, U.S.-China-Taiwan trilateral relations, and governance and institutions of China and Taiwan. His most recent publications include Sustaining the Triangular Balance: The Taiwan Strait Policy of Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, and Ma Ying-jeou (Univ. of Maryland School of Law, 2013), U.S. Taiwan Strait Policy: The Origins of Strategic Ambiguity (Lynne Rienner, 2012), and "The Evolution of Taiwan's Policies toward the Political Participation of Citizens Abroad in Homeland Governance," with Pei-te Lin.
The Origins and Development of Taiwan’s Policies toward Overseas Citizens’ Participation in Homeland Governance and Policymaking
This presentation traces the origins and evolution of the Republic of China (ROC)’s Policies toward its overseas constituents since the ROC’s founding in 1912 and its transfer to Taiwan after 1949. While discussing the ideological and legal principles underpinning the ROC’s policies toward the overseas community, the talk also focuses on how the changing international and domestic political circumstances have affected the degree and nature of involvement of overseas citizens in homeland political and economic decision-making. More essentially, democratization and the rise of Taiwanese-centered identity and consciousness have, since the mid-1990s, driven the ROC government to re-define and reconceptualize its relations to Taiwan as well as to its overseas citizens, thus resulting in the transformation of the political and legal policies toward the overseas compatriot community. The implications of these changes on the future of Taiwan’s domestic politics and foreign relations will also be examined.
This presentation traces the origins and evolution of the Republic of China (ROC)’s Policies toward its overseas constituents since the ROC’s founding in 1912 and its transfer to Taiwan after 1949. While discussing the ideological and legal principles underpinning the ROC’s policies toward the overseas community, the talk also focuses on how the changing international and domestic political circumstances have affected the degree and nature of involvement of overseas citizens in homeland political and economic decision-making. More essentially, democratization and the rise of Taiwanese-centered identity and consciousness have, since the mid-1990s, driven the ROC government to re-define and reconceptualize its relations to Taiwan as well as to its overseas citizens, thus resulting in the transformation of the political and legal policies toward the overseas compatriot community. The implications of these changes on the future of Taiwan’s domestic politics and foreign relations will also be examined.
- Published on
On February 7, the Taiwan Democracy Project will host a talk by Scott L. Kastner, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Maryland. Professor Kastner's talk is entitled "A Relationship Transformed: Rethinking the Prospects for Conflict and Peace in the Taiwan Strait." The talk is free and open to the public, although you are encouraged to RSVP at the official event page here.
Professor Kastner’s research interests include China’s foreign relations, the international politics of East Asia, and international political economy. His book, Political Conflict and Economic Interdependence across the Taiwan Strait and Beyond, was published in the Studies in Asian Security series by Stanford University Press (2009). His work has also appeared in journals such as International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Security Studies, and Journal of Peace Research. Kastner received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.
Professor Kastner’s research interests include China’s foreign relations, the international politics of East Asia, and international political economy. His book, Political Conflict and Economic Interdependence across the Taiwan Strait and Beyond, was published in the Studies in Asian Security series by Stanford University Press (2009). His work has also appeared in journals such as International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Security Studies, and Journal of Peace Research. Kastner received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.
A Relationship Transformed: Rethinking the Prospects for Conflict and Peace in the Taiwan Strait
After long being viewed as a potential flashpoint, relations across the Taiwan Strait have stabilized tremendously in recent years, reflecting moderation in the approaches both Beijing and Taipei have taken with regard to the cross-Strait sovereignty dispute. In my presentation, I consider whether this new-found stability in the Taiwan Strait is likely to persist. In particular, I consider how fundamental trends in cross-Strait relations—such as rapidly growing Chinese military power and deepening cross-Strait economic exchange—are affecting the likelihood that the conflict scenarios which worried analysts prior to the current détente will re-emerge as future concerns. My analysis suggests that the relationship across the Taiwan Strait is likely to be more stable in the years ahead than was the case in the years preceding 2008; this conclusion holds even if there is a change in ruling party in Taiwan. But I also emphasize that the cross-Strait relationship has not been fundamentally transformed, and that the potential for serious conflict remains.
After long being viewed as a potential flashpoint, relations across the Taiwan Strait have stabilized tremendously in recent years, reflecting moderation in the approaches both Beijing and Taipei have taken with regard to the cross-Strait sovereignty dispute. In my presentation, I consider whether this new-found stability in the Taiwan Strait is likely to persist. In particular, I consider how fundamental trends in cross-Strait relations—such as rapidly growing Chinese military power and deepening cross-Strait economic exchange—are affecting the likelihood that the conflict scenarios which worried analysts prior to the current détente will re-emerge as future concerns. My analysis suggests that the relationship across the Taiwan Strait is likely to be more stable in the years ahead than was the case in the years preceding 2008; this conclusion holds even if there is a change in ruling party in Taiwan. But I also emphasize that the cross-Strait relationship has not been fundamentally transformed, and that the potential for serious conflict remains.
- Published on
The Taiwan Democracy Project is hosting Benjamin L. Read, Associate Professor of Political Science at UC Santa Cruz, today from 12-1:30pm in the Okimoto Conference Room, Encina Hall 3rd Floor, Stanford University. Professor Read will be speaking on his research examining Taiwan's neighborhood-level political networks. The full title and abstract are below. The event page is here.
Professor Read's book, Roots of the State: Neighborhood Organization and Social Networks in Beijing and Taipei (Stanford University Press, 2012) uses surveys, interviews, and participant observation to compare the ways in which constituents perceive and interact with the urban administrative structures found in China, Taiwan, and elsewhere in the region. He edited Local Organizations and Urban Governance in East and Southeast Asia: Straddling State and Society (Routledge, 2009), also on the role of state-sponsored organizations, and has published research on civil society groups as well, particularly China's nascent homeowner associations. Read's next book, Field Research in Political Science: Practices and Principles, co-authored with Diana Kapiszewski and Lauren Morris MacLean, will be published in 2014 by Cambridge University Press. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Comparative Political Studies, the China Journal, the China Quarterly, the Washington Quarterly, and several edited books. He earned his Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University in 2003.
Professor Read's book, Roots of the State: Neighborhood Organization and Social Networks in Beijing and Taipei (Stanford University Press, 2012) uses surveys, interviews, and participant observation to compare the ways in which constituents perceive and interact with the urban administrative structures found in China, Taiwan, and elsewhere in the region. He edited Local Organizations and Urban Governance in East and Southeast Asia: Straddling State and Society (Routledge, 2009), also on the role of state-sponsored organizations, and has published research on civil society groups as well, particularly China's nascent homeowner associations. Read's next book, Field Research in Political Science: Practices and Principles, co-authored with Diana Kapiszewski and Lauren Morris MacLean, will be published in 2014 by Cambridge University Press. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Comparative Political Studies, the China Journal, the China Quarterly, the Washington Quarterly, and several edited books. He earned his Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University in 2003.
Urban Taiwan’s State-Structured Neighborhood Governance: Deepening Democracy, Partisan Civic Engagement, Inverted Class Bias
Taiwan's system of neighborhood-level governance has origins in institutions of local control employed by both the Republican-era Kuomintang and the Japanese colonizers. In more recent times, the neighborhood wardens (lizhang, 里長) have come to play a complex set of roles, including state agent, political party operative, and community representative. Wardens of a new generation, with more women in their ranks than ever before, have adopted new practices and built different relationships with their communities, parties, and city governments compared to those of the older, often clan-based bosses.
Focusing on Taipei with glances at other locales, this paper draws on ethnographic research, interviews, surveys, public records, and other sources. It explores the particular kind of political and civic engagement that the neighborhood governance system elicits. It is statist; though independent in many respects, wardens have government-mandated duties and work closely with city and district officials. Community development associations (shequ fazhan xiehui), as well as other neighborhood groups and wardens themselves, compete for and receive government funding. Warden elections are also deeply democratic in ways that, in global perspective, are unusual for such ultra-local urban offices. Over the past 25 years, elections have become hotly contested, voter turnout has risen to remarkably high rates, and KMT dominance has partially given way to political pluralization. Citizens’ participation in this setting, like others, often shows deep divisions along partisan lines, with wardens and local associations split by party loyalties. Finally, civic engagement with the neighborhood system shows an inverted class bias. Residents with less education, for example, are more likely to know their wardens and vote in warden elections. Politics in Taiwan’s li thus has evolved substantially over time, and also contrasts in multiple ways with Western images of neighborhood politics.
Taiwan's system of neighborhood-level governance has origins in institutions of local control employed by both the Republican-era Kuomintang and the Japanese colonizers. In more recent times, the neighborhood wardens (lizhang, 里長) have come to play a complex set of roles, including state agent, political party operative, and community representative. Wardens of a new generation, with more women in their ranks than ever before, have adopted new practices and built different relationships with their communities, parties, and city governments compared to those of the older, often clan-based bosses.
Focusing on Taipei with glances at other locales, this paper draws on ethnographic research, interviews, surveys, public records, and other sources. It explores the particular kind of political and civic engagement that the neighborhood governance system elicits. It is statist; though independent in many respects, wardens have government-mandated duties and work closely with city and district officials. Community development associations (shequ fazhan xiehui), as well as other neighborhood groups and wardens themselves, compete for and receive government funding. Warden elections are also deeply democratic in ways that, in global perspective, are unusual for such ultra-local urban offices. Over the past 25 years, elections have become hotly contested, voter turnout has risen to remarkably high rates, and KMT dominance has partially given way to political pluralization. Citizens’ participation in this setting, like others, often shows deep divisions along partisan lines, with wardens and local associations split by party loyalties. Finally, civic engagement with the neighborhood system shows an inverted class bias. Residents with less education, for example, are more likely to know their wardens and vote in warden elections. Politics in Taiwan’s li thus has evolved substantially over time, and also contrasts in multiple ways with Western images of neighborhood politics.
- Published on
The Taiwan Democracy Project last week hosted Ronald Heiferman, Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Studies program at Quinnipiac University, for a presentation on the Cairo Conference of 1943. The Cairo Conference was a key moment in Taiwan's history, even though no Taiwanese were present and it was held on the other side of the world, as it effectively determined that Taiwan would be handed over to Chinese Nationalist authorities after the defeat and surrender of Japan in World War II. Professor Heiferman shared some of the findings from his recent book, The Cairo Conference of 1943: Roosevelt, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek, and Madame Chiang. The official event page can be found here.
A Postscript to the 1943 Cairo Conference: Churchill, Roosevelt, and the Chinese Dilemma.
That the Cairo Conference has been overshadowed by the wartime summits at Teheran and Yalta is understandable given the start of the Cold War in Europe almost immediately after the German surrender in May 1945. To understand the collapse of relations between the Anglo-American allies on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other, it is important to look at the conferences at Teheran and Yalta, the interactions between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, the understandings they reached, and their misunderstandings. That said, the Cairo Conference also marked an important turning point in the relations between the allies in the war against Japan: China, Great Britain, and the United States, the consequences of which were critical to the defeat of Japan and the post-war order in East Asia.
The interaction of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Chiang in Cairo is every bit as compelling from a human interest perspective as the interplay between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Teheran and Yalta, albeit less studied, and offers a sobering reminder of what can happen when policy is made at the very highest level by individuals who know relatively little about the culture of their partners and are not able to separate myths and stereotypes from realities. Summit conferences may make for good theater, but do not necessarily result in good policies as an examination of the Cairo Conference reveals.
Each of the parties at the Cairo Conference came with their own agendas, frequently contradictory. Generalissimo and Madame Chiang hoped to obtain a commitment to make the China-Burma-India theater of war the focal point in the war against Japan, a matter not only of strategic importance to them but also of poetic justice. They also sought to redress grievances against Japan and Great Britain in the post-war era. Roosevelt hoped to buoy the ego and spirits of Chiang and to insure that the Kuomintang regime would not make a separate peace with Japan thus allowing the Japanese to redeploy the nearly one million troops they had stationed in China. Churchill had no real interest in meeting with Chiang and his wife at Cairo at all, but felt obliged to humor Roosevelt and to make sure that no agreements would be reached in Cairo that would in any way prejudice British colonial interests in Southeast Asia in the post-war era. Given these conflicting agendas, it is no wonder that none of the participants would be satisfied with the results of their labors in Cairo.
That the Cairo Conference has been overshadowed by the wartime summits at Teheran and Yalta is understandable given the start of the Cold War in Europe almost immediately after the German surrender in May 1945. To understand the collapse of relations between the Anglo-American allies on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other, it is important to look at the conferences at Teheran and Yalta, the interactions between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, the understandings they reached, and their misunderstandings. That said, the Cairo Conference also marked an important turning point in the relations between the allies in the war against Japan: China, Great Britain, and the United States, the consequences of which were critical to the defeat of Japan and the post-war order in East Asia.
The interaction of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Chiang in Cairo is every bit as compelling from a human interest perspective as the interplay between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Teheran and Yalta, albeit less studied, and offers a sobering reminder of what can happen when policy is made at the very highest level by individuals who know relatively little about the culture of their partners and are not able to separate myths and stereotypes from realities. Summit conferences may make for good theater, but do not necessarily result in good policies as an examination of the Cairo Conference reveals.
Each of the parties at the Cairo Conference came with their own agendas, frequently contradictory. Generalissimo and Madame Chiang hoped to obtain a commitment to make the China-Burma-India theater of war the focal point in the war against Japan, a matter not only of strategic importance to them but also of poetic justice. They also sought to redress grievances against Japan and Great Britain in the post-war era. Roosevelt hoped to buoy the ego and spirits of Chiang and to insure that the Kuomintang regime would not make a separate peace with Japan thus allowing the Japanese to redeploy the nearly one million troops they had stationed in China. Churchill had no real interest in meeting with Chiang and his wife at Cairo at all, but felt obliged to humor Roosevelt and to make sure that no agreements would be reached in Cairo that would in any way prejudice British colonial interests in Southeast Asia in the post-war era. Given these conflicting agendas, it is no wonder that none of the participants would be satisfied with the results of their labors in Cairo.
- Published on
The Taiwan Democracy Project hosted Thomas Gold, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, on Friday, November 8, at Stanford. The official event page is here. The title and abstract of the talk are below.
The Changing Field of Power in Post-Martial Law Taiwan
Professor Gold will make a presentation that is part of a larger book project that applies the theory of fields as elaborated by Pierre Bourdieu, Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam to the remaking of Taiwan since the end of martial law in 1987. He argues that political democratization is only one part of the larger dispersal of all forms of power (what Bourdieuterms “capital”) away from the tight centralized control of the mainlander—dominated KMT to broader segments of Taiwan’s society. This talk will look at this process of the breakdown and reconstruction of the old order of various fields, in particular the political, economic and cultural fields, and the effect of this on the overarching field of power.
Professor Gold will make a presentation that is part of a larger book project that applies the theory of fields as elaborated by Pierre Bourdieu, Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam to the remaking of Taiwan since the end of martial law in 1987. He argues that political democratization is only one part of the larger dispersal of all forms of power (what Bourdieuterms “capital”) away from the tight centralized control of the mainlander—dominated KMT to broader segments of Taiwan’s society. This talk will look at this process of the breakdown and reconstruction of the old order of various fields, in particular the political, economic and cultural fields, and the effect of this on the overarching field of power.
- Published on
On October 11 and 12th, the Taiwan Democracy Project at the Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, in cooperation with the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, will hold its 8th annual conference, on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The conference is open to the public. Further details and a place to RSVP are here. The event description is below.
The TPP is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated by twelve Pacific Rim countries that has the potential to re-shape economic relations in the region for the coming decades. This conference will bring together policymakers and scholars from Taiwan with leading specialists from other Asian countries and the U.S. to examine the evolution, geopolitics and future of the TPP, and also to consider how Taiwan is responding to the challenge of freer trade and what its strategy for deepening its trade relations and maintaining its economic development should be.
Among the issues to be addressed are:
This event is co-sponsored by The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
Among the issues to be addressed are:
- How the economic and trading environment of East Asia is evolving, and what Taiwan’s future place will be in that regional environment.
- The development of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a potentially far-reaching new economic and strategic framework for the region, including the origins and evolution of the TPP, US participation and China’s response, and the implications for the balance of power in East Asia.
- Taiwan’s response to the challenge of freer trade to date, including the impact on US-Taiwan relations and domestic constituencies for free trade in Taiwan.
- The perspectives of other key countries in the region toward the TPP, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the People’s Republic of China.
This event is co-sponsored by The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.