Contributions, Reflections, and Future Research

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relevance of these findings outside the context of Taiwan comes forth. This shall be addressed in the section below.

6.1 Contributions, Reflections, and Future Research

Revisiting the initial problem of the political relevance of animals as subjects in socio-political spaces, the nonhuman has come to claim a particular place in modern philosophical, ethical, and political debates in a variety of countries. Some societies have begun engaging in discussions for the provision of legal entitlements or better protection of non-human animals based on their status as sentient beings, in some cases, extending recognition to some species as non-human persons. Furthermore, the establishment of specific areas of inquiry in the form of Animal Studies and Anthrozoology demonstrates the timid yet growing influence of eco-centric paradigms in making sense of socio-natural relations. Nevertheless, as previously pointed out, these developments have been mostly dominated by scholarship in the United States and Europe. Here, in spite of the expansion of animal advocacy efforts in East Asia, research has remained considerably limited. In the case of Taiwan, such area of inquiry has been minimal or derivative from developments in the environmental movement front. As a result, an initial objective of this thesis project has been to bring attention to the rise of the Animal Protection Movement (APM) in Taiwan as a representative example of a New Social Movement (NSM). In doing so, this thesis has also addressed a gap, and a disagreement, in the social science dialogue of Taiwan. That is, the applicability of imported models into the local context. Here, authors such as Chang (1997) and Ho (2004) have been critical of the applicability of NSM theory to Taiwanese cases, arguing that further attention should be placed on national factors to explain emerging social movements.

Based on her assessment of Taiwan’s Shell-less Snail movement and the Bunnun New Religious Movement applying Touraine’s focus on historicity, and Castell’s dialectical approach to

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community, space, and autonomy, Chang (1997) advises that the further study of New Social Movements should pay attention to the moral and political dimensions in which mobilization takes place. Similarly, Ho (2004) in his examination of NSM theory through the case of Taiwan’s Anti-Nuclear Movement concludes that the usefulness of such perspective is limited due to the fact that this movement is a “byproduct of political democratization, rather than late capitalism”, thus arguing that indigenous factors should receive more attention in the study of social movements (Ho, 2004). Nevertheless, Chang (1997) does recognize the potential of employing such models in order to broaden research perspectives (Chang, 1997). On this note, such research potential was fulfilled in this thesis by balancing between a contextually sensitive methodological and theoretical framework based on Habermas’ focus on the conflict-shift in which NSM emerge, and the hermeneutical interpretation of data. Therefore, the case of Taiwan’s APM demonstrate the existence of a New Social Movement within the now consolidated Taiwanese democratic system.

Not only this suggests the opportunity to reopen the dialogue on this area of scholarship in relation to other movements, but also to engage in the conversation informing the transformation of socio-natural relationships through the spread of animal rights and animal welfare discourses within socio-political spaces in East Asia and the world. This is because as highlighted throughout this thesis, the APM in Taiwan is distinctive due to the syncretization of Buddhist Modernism and Animal Ethics ideas coming from the West. Along these lines, Taiwan has been sometimes referred to as a place where ‘East meets West’. This assertion is perhaps now ringing truer in the context of important paradigm shifts taking place around the world and where Taiwan could play a greater role.

On the one hand, pressing ecological imperatives currently translate into the need to design better policy and governance mechanisms and most certainly indicate the need to rethink

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nature relationships as a whole. Because of the important yet often ignored role that animals play in human life by providing sustenance, wealth, and knowledge in the case of animal testing, this first line in human-nature relationships should be a starting point of reflection. This brings attention to the next initial question at the beginning of this research project: “How are socio-natural relationships political?”. In the geo-cultural setting of this thesis, this aspect was explored through the outlined second objective of examining the implication of growing issue networks surrounding animal advocacy for the eco-political and democratic landscape of Taiwan. In a nutshell, socio-natural relationships are political because the nonhuman, that is nature and animals, are intertwined into various areas of human life, which conversely transform them into subjects within the political process. This includes animal welfare regulation within the various animal industries, our decision to adopt a stray animal, or donate to the conservation of endangered species. Under a democratic and fair process, these various aspects then become matters of transparency, public participation, and accountability. In Taiwan, this is an ongoing development and reflects positively on future prospects for animal governance. Furthermore, it opens a space for further inquiry within the East Asian context.

On the other hand, this last point brings attention to the overall relevance of the Taiwan case from an international perspective. In other words, how is Taiwan’s APM and its role in eco-politics significant elsewhere? Perhaps the relevance of these developments in the country can be better understood by positioning Taiwan in relation to other powers in the changing international (eco)political landscape. Most notably, the country has recently ranked its highest score in the Freedom in the World Report released by Freedom House, ahead of countries like France and the United States (US) (Chung, 2017).

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From the perspective of the US, the politics of socio-natural relations is currently illustrated by a recent proposal presented at the US Congress to overturn important protections under the national wildlife refuges system in Alaska, leaving Grizzly Bears and Wolves vulnerable to cruel hunting practices (Pacelle, 2017). All the while, the US Department of Agriculture has drastically reduced the availability of animal welfare data from its website (Kaplan, 2017). Aspects that have drawn the outcry of animal advocacy groups and prompted increased social mobilization.

At the same time, important developments are taking place in East Asia. Most notably, China is not only looking to emerge as a Climate leader, Chinese eco-politics and environmental actors are taking off, and animal advocacy rationales have begun to draw notice (Larson, 2008;

Chen, 2010; Hilton, 2016; Knott, 2016). It is at this juncture where the importance of studying Taiwan comes forth. As a key democracy in the region and in relation to its place in the geo-political space with China, Taiwan has been a focal point of interest for geo-political, social, and economic inquiry since its emergence an economic miracle in the 1980s, and later as a participant in the global third wave of democratization. Furthermore, because of the particular relationship between China and Taiwan, the process of political liberalization in the island drew considerable attention as a model for the future prospects in the Mainland. From here, the findings of this thesis can contribute to the expansion of an avenue for comparison between Taiwanese and Chinese eco-politics from the perspective of changing socio-natural relationships. In addition, due to the linkages (and disagreements) between the two countries, it would be interesting to explore how the introduction of animal ethics in the island could have led to the development of a Chinese take on the topic (Lu, Bayne, and Wang, 2013). In regards to a wider perspective on East Asian eco-politics, the role of smaller and grassroots networks of transnational actors such as highlighted in the case of the Fur Free Asia Campaign deserves a closer look. In particular, a regional and local

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perspective based on cultural, political, and economic contexts for comparison could be helpful in the development of further ecologically informed critical approaches. Finally, this need for a diversity of voices, human and nonhuman is imperative in the context of green democratic project.

This is an area that has come under increasing interests due to the pressing ecological and environmental issues of our times.