Taiwan Since Martial Law: Society, Culture, Politics, Economy
David Blundell (Editor)
NTU Press, Taipei, 2012
A few days ago I received a long awaited package from Taiwan in the mail. It contained copies of a new book, Taiwan Since Martial Law: Society, Culture, Politics, Economy.
I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the book because it contains a chapter I wrote titled, “Nation vs. Tradition: Indigenous Rights and Smangus.” The chapter is based on the research I did for my thesis in the Masters of Taiwan Studies program at National Chengchi University (NCCU).
While it is great to finally hold the book in my hands it is important to acknowledge the great amount of work that went into its production. Thanks must go to David Blundell for his tireless work as the editor. Many others were also involved in the project. The quality of the final product shines through in the beautiful artwork and design on the cover.
I feel quite honoured to have my work published alongside well known Taiwan scholars including Michael Hsiao, Ann Heylen and Jon Sullivan. Several of my classmates from the Taiwan Studies program at NCCU also contributed chapters to the book.
25 years have passed since the end martial law in Taiwan. In more human terms this period of time is a generation. The most obvious development in this time is Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian regime to a democracy. Taiwan’s democratic trajectories are outlined by Bo Tedards in the opening essay of the book. Tedards writes that “the process has not been a linear one, and nor is it quite complete.”
The process of democratisation is further explored in articles such as Jonathan Sullivan’s on election campaigning and Gary and Ming-yeh Rawnsley’s article on the media in democratic Taiwan. Human rights are addressed in Daniel Bowman’s chapter comparing the human rights policies of Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Shui-bian. Janet Tan looks at the need for a civil rights protection system.
The lifting of martial law not only created the political space for democracy to develop; it also brought about a renaissance as peoples rediscovered their identities and relocated themselves in the environmental space of Taiwan. Ann Heylen’s chapter discusses the “greening” of Taiwan history – the emergence of new historical narratives based around Pingpu identity, and the 228 Massacre and White Terror. Al Chung-chieh Wu looks at the emergence of a Hakka ethnic movement. Constance Woods details the resurgence of local identity in her case study of the Beitou Hot Springs Museum.
The book also contains several chapters on Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. In addition to my chapter on Smangus, Jackson Hu looks at how the Yami of Orchid Island have used memory of place to revitalise their cultural knowledge. Yayoi Mitsuda describes how the Thao people were the first new indigenous group to gain official recognition in 2001 ending the “nine tribes” classification that had dominated for almost a century.
I have not mentioned all the contributors and will leave it to those who read the book to discover more. My recommendation is of course biased, but I hope this book will help people better understand the diverse and vibrant society of contemporary Taiwan. It will also serve as a useful textbook for any student of Taiwan Studies.
Table of Contents
Map of Taiwan…………………..… xi
Contributors (in chapter order)… xiii
Editor’s Note………………………. xxi
Foreword………………………….. xxv
Learning from the Past to Strengthen our Future…………… xxv
Safe C. F. Lin
Producing this Book………………………………………… xxvi
Eric H. Y. Yu
Centered on Time and Place………………………………… xxviii
Michael Buckland
Taking Ownership of the Timeline of History ………………xxx
Hsiang Jieh
Introduction……………………………………………… xxxiii
Taiwan Since Martial Law
David Blundell
Opening Essay ……………………………………………xlix
Trajectories of Democratization
Bo TedardsSociety & Culture
1 Taiwan Coming of Age ………………………………3
David Blundell
2 Grassroots Taiwan History…………………………… 27
Ann Heylen
3 A Public Arts Venue in Taipei: Beitou Hot Springs Museum……… 63
Constance Woods
4 Rights to Recognition: Minorities and Indigenous Politics in Emerging Taiwan Nationalism …91
Ku Kun-hui
5 Review of the Hakka Ethnic Movement in Taiwan ………………131
Al Chung-chieh Wu
6 First Case of the New Recognition System: The Survival Strategies of the Thao…………… 153
Mitsuda Yayoi
7 Retrieving Ancestral Power From the Landscape: Cultural Struggle and Yami Ecological Memory on Orchid Island …183
Jackson Hu
8 Perception and Cultural Identity of Taiwan Exchange Students in Germany From the 1980s to the Present ……………211
Monika Leipelt-Tsai
9 The First Generation Middle Class in Taiwan: Culture and Politics………………243
Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao
10 Tea of Taiwan: Contemporary Adaptation ……………263
Niki Alsford
Politics & Economy
11 The Formation of Taiwan’s New National Identity Since the End of the 1980s………… 297
Frank Muyard
12 Election Campaigning Since the Taiwan Martial Law Era ……………367
Jonathan Sullivan
13 The Media in Democratic Taiwan …………………395
Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley
14 Fledgling Democracy in Taiwan: Need for a Civil Rights Protection System ………………419
Janet Tan
15 Nation vs. Tradition: Indigenous Rights and Smangus………………453
David Reid
16 Righting the Wrongs of the Past? The Human Rights Policies of Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou ……485
Daniel Bowman
17 Economic Integration Across the Taiwan Strait: A Case of Cultural Identity Transformation and Contested National Sovereignty in the Context of Globalization ……………………527
José Guerra Vio
18 Globalization and Economic Security: The Case of the Taiwanese Semiconductor Industry ……………549
Ming-chin Monique Chu
19 Economy of Taiwan after the Lifting of Martial Law: A Waning Developmental State? …597
Peter C. Y. Chow
Index ……………631
David on Formosa 