The Birth of Political Subjectivities： Political discourses and concepts of democracy during 1970s-1980s in post-war Taiwan
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Lin, Jyun-Da
Abstract
This is a study of political discourses and concepts of democracy during the 1970s-1980s in post-war Taiwan. Theoretically, it asks what effects political discourses and concepts of democracy have on collective action and the paths of democratic transition. Empirically, it describes the historical processes through which the four political discourses of “Liberal modernization”,”election”, “Taiwan nationalism”, and “social movement” were formed. Then, it proceeds to explain why intellectuals and political elites used these political discourses, as well as why all actors ultimately added the term “Democracy” into their political discourses, regardless of their relative differences.
The argument of this paper can be summarized as follows: The political discourses of “Liberal modernization”,”election”, and “Taiwan nationalism” had already appeared on the scene in the 1950s-1960s. These discourses produced the condition of the possibility of collective action, and they reappeared when the KMT regime experienced diplomatic crisis.
The discourse of Liberal modernization was applied to rebuild the KMT regime in 1971-1973, and similarly applied in the struggle against the KMT regime by the Tangwai movement after 1975. The discourse of election was applied to construct the identities of the Tangwai movement, the collective masses, and the opposition party after 1977, whilst different voices inside the Tangwai movement emerged during the 1980s. The discourse of Taiwan nationalism was developed as political nationalism and it was articulated with the discourses of Liberal modernization and election by the Tangwai movement. In the 1980s, cultural nationalism developed out of contention with Chinese cultural nationalism, and thus the discourse of Taiwan independence emerged publicly in Taiwan after 1987. The actors of social movements already constructed collective identities through political discourses in the late 1970s and in the pre-1980s. These identities helped them overcome the dilemma of collective action. The four kinds of political discourses produced the condition of possibility which directed the divided national identity and election-driven character towards the path of Taiwan’s democratization.
In the process of Taiwan’s democratization, the term “Democracy” included many concepts that were to be changed in different processes. The term “Democracy” appeared in all kinds of political discourses not only because it could be articulated with political logic or social logic, but also because it could harness a cognitive mechanism which would empower collective identities.
Subjects
political discourse
concepts of democracy
collective identity
Liberal modernization
Tangwai electoral movement
Taiwan nationalism
Chinese nationalism
social movement
democratic transition
democratization
Taiwanese political history and history of political thoughts
SDGs
Type
thesis
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