太陽花學運新生代對於兩岸關係的政治價值觀及態度影響一個新政治世代的崛起？ - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 太陽花學運新生代對於兩岸關係的政治價值觀及態度. ‧. 影響一個新政治世代的崛起？ The Sunflower generation 's new political values and their attitudes towards Cross Strait relations: A political generation in the making?. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Student: Ferran Perez Mena 安風龍 Advisor: Dr. I Yuan 袁易博士. 中華民國 104 年 6 月.

(2) 太陽花學運新生代對於兩岸關係的政治價值觀及態度影響一個新政治世代的崛起？ The Sunflower generation's new political values and their attitudes towards Cross Strait relations: A political generation in the making? 研究生：安風龍 Student: Ferran Perez 指導教授: 袁易博士 Advisor: Dr. I. Yuan 國立政治大學. 學. 亞太研究英語碩士學位學程. ‧. io. n. al. Ch. y. sit. Nat. 碩士論文. er. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. A Thesis. e. i. i n U. v. n g c h Program in Asia-Pacific Submitted to International Master’s Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in China Studies. 中華民國 104 年 6 月.

(3) Acknowledgment I would like to thank and express my greatest gratitude to my advisor Professor Yuan I, who helped me and guided me through the whole process . I would also like to thank Professor Yu, who gave me interesting insights for my thesis and challenged my ideas about Taiwanese politics. I'm also grateful to all the students who helped me with the in-depth interviews and introduced me to the interesting world of Taiwanese social activism. Also, I would to thank Sam Scott for her infinite patience, support, comments and love. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to my family, who have supported me during these 2 years.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(4) Abstract In 2014, the Sunflower Movement was a turning point for the political development of Taiwan. It was the first time in the history of Taiwan that the Legislative Yuan was occupied by students. The Hungarian sociologist Karl Mannheim theorized that destabilizing events can lead to the emergence of new political generations. This thesis attempts to examine whether or not the Sunflower Movement can be considered as a catalyst of a political generation. It also analyzes the political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations of those involved with the aim of studying. 治政 political behavior of these students, it is possible 大 to foresee the future of 立 Cross-Strait relations.. whether or not those students became a political generation. If we know the. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Keywords: Political Generations, Cross-Strait Relations, Taiwan, China, Sunflower Movement, Sunflower's Generation.

(5) CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................ 5 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................ 5 1. Chapter 1 - Introduction ....................................................................................... 6 1.1 Generational Puzzle ............................................................................................ 8 1.2 Purpose of the study ......................................................................................... 13 1.3 Guiding Hypothesis .......................................................................................... 14 1.4 Variables ........................................................................................................... 15 1.5 Literature Review on Political generations and Political socialization ............ 15 1.6 Methodology..................................................................................................... 16. 治政 2. Chapter 2 - Theoretical framework .................................................................... 20 大立Theory ............................................................................ 20 2.1 Political Generations 1.7 Chapters ............................................................................................................ 18. ‧ 國. 學. 2.1.1 The intellectual development of the concept of Generation .......................... 20 2.2 Karl Mannheim and political Generations........................................................ 22 2.3 Why do political generations clash within the nation-state? ............................ 24. ‧. 2.4 Defining the concept of political generation .................................................... 27. sit. y. Nat. 2. 5 Generational knowledge, political socialisation, youth and social movements. ................................................................................................................................ 29. io. er. 2.6 Theoretical limitations ...................................................................................... 32 3. Chapter 3 - The first three political generations in Taiwan ................................ 36. n. al. i n U. v. 3.1 The 1st Political Generation of Taiwanese- from the Japanese rule to the KMT's arrival.......................................................................................................... 37. Ch. engchi. 3.1.1 1st Political Generation - Islanders .............................................................. 37 3.1.2 1st Generation of Taiwanese- Mainlanders ................................................... 39 3.2 The 2nd political Generation of Taiwanese: Taiwan's withdrawal from UN ... 39 3.2.1 The 2nd Generation of Taiwanese: Islanders ................................................ 40 3.2.2 The 2nd Generation of Taiwanese- Mainlanders. ......................................... 41 3.3 The 3rd political Generation of Taiwanese: The rise of opposition movements and the establishment of DPP ................................................................................. 42 3.3.1 The 3rd political generation of Taiwanese: Islanders.................................... 42 3.3.2 The 3rd Generation of Taiwanese: Mainlanders ........................................... 43 4. Chapter 4 - The 4th political Generation-Strawberry tribe and Democratic generation ............................................................................................................... 45 4.1 Domestic politics context ................................................................................. 45 4.2 Cross -Strait relations context........................................................................... 46.

(6) 4.3 4th political generation's Political values and attitudes towards Cross Strait relations. ................................................................................................................. 47 4.3.1 Self-Identity ................................................................................................... 48 4.3.2 Independence versus Unification................................................................... 49 4.3.3 Partisanship.................................................................................................... 49 4.3.4 Democracy ..................................................................................................... 50 4.3.5 Political engagement ..................................................................................... 51 4.3.6 Political socialisation ..................................................................................... 54 4.3.7 Opinions on China ......................................................................................... 54 4.3. 8 Taiwanese nationalism ................................................................................. 55 5. Chapter 5 - Wild Strawberry Movement (野草莓運動) ................................... 57 5.1 Wild Strawberry Movement's history ............................................................... 57. 治政 5.3 Wild Strawberry Movement: Transitional historical 大 event or destabilising 61 event? ...................................................................................................................... 立 5.2 Wild Strawberry Movement: new generational political trends? ..................... 59. 6. Chapter 6: The Sunflower Movement ................................................................ 65. ‧ 國. 學. 6.1 Sunflower Movement's history ......................................................................... 65 6.2 Domestic context .............................................................................................. 67. ‧. 6.3 Cross-Strait relations ........................................................................................ 68 6.4 Previous social movements as a political learning ........................................... 70. y. Nat. sit. 6.5 Sunflower Movement demands ........................................................................ 71. io. er. 6.6 Sunflower Movement as a destabilising historical event? .............................. 74 7. Chapter 7 - Sunflower political generation's Political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations................................................................................. 80. al. n. v i n Ch 7.1 Self-identity ...................................................................................................... 80 engchi U 7.2 Independence vs Unification. ........................................................................... 83 7.3 Partisanship....................................................................................................... 85 7.4 Democracy ........................................................................................................ 87 7.5 Political engagement......................................................................................... 89 7.6 Political socialisation ........................................................................................ 91 7.7 Opinions on China ............................................................................................ 94 7.8 "Taiwanese Nationalism" ................................................................................. 96. 8. Chapter 8 - Comparison between the 4th political generation and the Sunflower's political generation ............................................................................. 98 8.1 Self-identity ...................................................................................................... 98 8.2 Independent vs unification................................................................................ 99 8.3 Partisanship..................................................................................................... 100 8.4 Democracy ...................................................................................................... 101.

(7) 8.5 Political engagement....................................................................................... 102 8.6 Political socialisation ...................................................................................... 103 8.7 Opinion on China ........................................................................................... 104 8.8 "Taiwanese nationalism" ................................................................................ 105 9. Chapter 9 - Implications for Cross-Strait relations........................................... 107 10. Chapter 10: Conclusion .................................................................................. 111 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 114 Appendix .............................................................................................................. 123. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(8) List of Tables Table I: Generational Model........................................................................................... 10 Table II: Distribution of Self- identity among Three Generations ................................. 48 Table III: Self-identification by generation in 2008 ....................................................... 48 Table IV: Generation and independence/unification ...................................................... 49 Table V: Generation and Party identification ................................................................. 50 Table VI: What does democracy mean? ......................................................................... 51 Table VII: Level of democracy in Taiwan ..................................................................... 51 Table VIII: Attended to a protest .................................................................................... 53 Table IX: Interest in politics ........................................................................................... 53 Table X: How Much do you like the mainland China Government? ............................. 55 Table XI: Generational Unit: Wild Strawberry .............................................................. 64 Table XII: Self-identity before and after the Sunflower Movement .............................. 75 Table XIII: Unification vs Independence before and after Sunflower Movement ......... 76 Table XIV: Interest in politics before and after the Sunflower Movement .................... 77 Table XV: Self- identity Sunflower's Political generation ............................................. 81 Table XVI: Unification vs Independence Sunflower's political generation ................... 84 Table XVII: Partisanship Sunflower's Political generation ............................................ 87 Table XVIII: Interest in politics Sunflower's political generation ................................. 91 Table XIX: Trust Chinese People................................................................................... 95 Table XX: Trust Mainland China government ............................................................... 96 Table XXI: Comparison self-identity between 4th political generation and Sunflower's political generation ......................................................................................................... 98 Table XXII: Comparison Unification vs Independence between 4th political generation and Sunflower's political generation ............................................................................ 100 Table XXIII: Comparison partisanship between 4h political generation and Sunflower's political generation ....................................................................................................... 101 Table XXIV: Political socialization Sunflower's political generation and 4th political generation ..................................................................................................................... 104. 政治大. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. List of Abbreviations. engchi. KMT: Kuomintang PRC: People's Republic of China ROC: Republic of China DPP: Democratic Progressive Party NP: New Party TSU: Taiwan Solidarity Union FPF: People First Party. 5. i n U. v.

(9) 1. Chapter 1 - Introduction Since 1949, when the KMT arrived in Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war against the Chinese Communist Party, the Strait of Taiwan has become a hotspot for security in East Asia. Cross-Strait relations has the potential to lead the Republic of China (ROC) and People's Republic of China (PRC) to war, through either miscalculation, misunderstanding, accident or willful desire.. During the various Missile Crisis, 1954-1955, 1958 and 1995-1996, military tensions reached worrisome levels. Later, in 2005, the PRC passed an "antiseccession law" (fanfenlieguojiafa, 反分裂國家法), which authorized the use of force to stop any. 政治大 improved during the recent years, in particular, since president Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九) 立 separatist movement by Taiwan. Despite this, the relation between ROC and PRC has. took the presidential office in 2008. President Ma changed the conflictive course that. ‧ 國. 學. Cross-Strait Relations had undergone under Chen Shui-Bian's administration. The normalisation of Taiwan and China's relations became a top priority for Ma's. ‧. administration, which believed that an improved Cross-Strait Relations would not only. y. Nat. reinforce Taiwan's security, but more importantly, increase economic opportunities in. sit. Mainland China. President Ma, in his inaugural address asserted that there would be "no. er. io. reunification, no independence and no war" (butongbudubuwu, 不統, 不獨, 不武)1.. al. n. v i n C stability, Cross-Strait Nevertheless, despite the existing h e n g c h i U relations. remain potentially. dangerous for both parties. The American scholar John Mearsheimer believes that the existing danger that can jeopardise Cross-Strait Relations dwells in the continuing rise of China, which will have huge consequences for Taiwan, almost all of which will be bad. In the future, China will be much more powerful than it is today and it will remain deeply committed to making Taiwan part of China2.. On the contrary, the American scholar Ted Carpanter stated that Taiwan's provocations to China as a result of the growing support of independence will be the cause of the 1. Shao-Cheng Sun, "President MA Ying Jeou's Strategies to promote ECFA in Taiwan," EOPS 12 (2012): 1. 2 John Mearsheimer, "Taiwan's Dire Straits," The National Interest 130 (Mar/April 2014): 29.. 6.

(10) possible conflict between ROC and PRC. In reality, Taiwan is unlikely to declare independence formally. However, developments in recent years make clear that the Taiwanese are taking a variety of actions that stop just short of that ultimate provocation. In doing so, Taiwan is contributing to steadily escalating tensions. At some point, the Taiwanese government may miscalculate and provoke Beijing beyond endurance3.. Following that argument, Trevor Corson through Carpanter pointed out that so far the United States has managed to prevent armed conflict between China and Taiwan by pressuring Taiwan not to declare independence. Nevertheless, as Taiwan’s democracy matures, America’s ability to influence the island is fading4. This means that Taiwanese. 治政大 Why does Taiwanese can lead Taiwan towards a conflict with Beijing government. 立a power to impact Cross-Strait relations? Taiwan is a domestic politics have such. domestic politics has the potential to jeopardise the current status quo and subsequently. ‧ 國. 學. democracy and its leaders could not easily resist pressure for a more assertive posture even a declaration of independence - if that is what the voters demanded. If public. ‧. opinion hardens in favour of this policy direction, elected officials may feel compelled to follow5. However, such a pressure may not only can come from the result of an. Nat. sit. y. official election but also from any political activity or event promoted by Taiwanese. n. al. er. io. civil society such as demonstrations, protests, and occupations.. Ch. i n U. v. In 2014, the Sunflower Movement (Taiyanghuaxueyun, 太陽花學運), the protests led. engchi. by the students against the KMT's government and the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (haixialianganfuwumaoyixieyi, 海峽兩岸服務貿易協議)(CSSTA), which eventually turned into an occupation of the Legislative Yuan, were a clear example of how civil society's pressure and public opinion can shape the political landscape of Taiwan and ultimately Cross-Strait Relations's development.. In the article published by the Diplomat, entitled "Was Taiwan's Sunflower Movement Successful?", J. Michael Cole suggested that one of the successful features of the 3. Ted Carpanter, America's coming war with China. (New York: Palgrave, 2005), 99. Ibid, 99. 5 Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism," Policy Studies 26 (2006): 2. 4. 7.

(11) Sunflower Movement was its ability to inject itself into politics across the Taiwan Strait, thus forcing Beijing to take social forces into consideration as it adjusts its policies6. In June 28th of 2014, Zhang Zhijun's visit to Taiwan, China's top official for Cross-Strait relations, was a sign of new Beijing's considerations towards Taiwan. The visit was landmark for Cross-Strait relations, since Mr Zhang was the first-ever head of the mainland's Taiwan Affair Office (TAO) to visit Taiwan. Zhang met with his counterpart, Wang Yu-chi of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). They agreed to study issues relating to Taiwan’s involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)7.. Indeed, as Taiwan is a democratic regime, civil society in Taiwan has the potential to. 治政大to a possible political change domestic politics seems to be the key factor that can lead 立in Cross-Strait relations. Therefore, to foresee the in Taiwan and ultimately shape Taiwanese domestic politics. Hence, the relationship between civil society and. ‧ 國. 學. development of domestic politics and the future of the relations between ROC and PRC with the aim of promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important to understand the. ‧. structure of political opinion. Analysing civil society's political values and attitudes towards and Cross-Strait relations is critical to achieve such a purpose.. sit. y. Nat. er. io. 1.1 Generational Puzzle. al. n. v i n C ofh Taiwanese society, nature e n g c h i U which. To understand society's different political values and attitudes, it is important to comprehend the complex. has been shaped by. different political regimes (Japanese colonial rule, KMT's authoritarian regime, and a democratic regime), socio-economic contexts, and ethnic factors. Not all the Taiwanese have undergone the same life experiences or have been influenced by similar political ideas or values.. Despite the existing socio-economic and political differences between individuals and groups, some shared commonalities can be found. Some groups of individuals, as a 6. J. Michael Cole, "Was Taiwan's Sunflower Movement successful?," The Diplomat, July 1, 2014, http://thediplomat.com/2014/07/was-taiwans-sunflower-movement-successful/ 7 Shannon Tiezzi, "The Sunflower Movement hangs over Chinese Official's trip to Taiwan," The Diplomat, June 25, 2014, http://thediplomat.com/2014/06/sunflower-movement-hangs-overchinese-officials-trip-to-taiwan/. 8.

(12) result of having experienced social changes and historical events, share to some extent a homogenous set of political values and attitudes that ultimately have had an impact on Taiwan domestic politics.. To analyse Taiwanese society's political values and attitudes and the causes of political change in the island, a theoretical framework able to take in account the existing differences and particularities of the individuals and groups as well as the factors that have contributed to the political change is needed. Generational studies can provide a tool to decipher such social and political complexities. The notion of generation is used to make sense of differences between age groupings in society and to locate individual's selves and other persons within historical time8. In addition, new generations experience. 治政大 lies the potential for marked social change . 立. historical conditions differently than do older (parent) generations, and in this difference 9. ‧ 國. 學. There have been several previous attempts to study Taiwanese society's political values and attitudes from a generational approach, namely Shelley Rigger, Andy Chang, T.Y. ‧. Wang and Yun-Han Chu.. Nat. sit. y. Andy Chang and T.Y Wang, in their article entitled "Taiwanese or Chinese?. er. io. Independence or Unification? An analysis of Generational differences in Taiwan" published in 2005, provided a generational model to analyse Taiwanese society and its. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. political generations. According to them, the history of Taiwan has crafted four main. engchi. political generations, as a result of different living experiences such as the Japanese colonial rule, Taiwan's withdrawal from the UN in 1971, the establishment of DPP in 1986 and the peaceful transfer of political power in 2000.10 See table I.. 8. Jane Pilcher, "Mannheim's sociology of generations: an undervalued legacy, "BJS 45, 3 (1994): 481. 9 Joseph,R, Demartini, "Change agents and generational relationships: A reevaluation of Mannheim' s problems of generations," Social Forces 64, no.1 (1985): 2. 10 Andy Chang and T.Y Wang, "Taiwanese or Chinese? Independence or Unification? An analysis of Generational differences in Taiwan," Journal of Asian and African studies 40 (2005): 34.. 9.

(13) Table I: Generational Model. Source: Andy Chang and T.Y Wang, " Taiwanese or Chinese? Independence or Unification? An analysis of Generational differences in Taiwan", Journal of Asian and African studies 40 (2005). 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. In 2006, Shelley Rigger published an article entitled "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism", in which, Rigger attempted to. ‧. foresee the development of Cross-Strait relations applying Chang and Wang's. y. Nat. generational model to study Taiwanese political generation's political values,. sit. nationalism and attitudes towards Cross Strait relations. Her theoretical approach not. er. io. only was based on generational studies but also the notion that the relationship between. al. n. v i n C hIn addition, RiggerUprovided a deep analysis of the development in the Strait of Taiwan. engchi. democracy and domestic politics is the key factor to understand any political. different political generations, not only explaining the historical factors that shaped. them but also analysing the social differences and political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations among them. Rigger argued that preferences patterns of different age groups in Taiwan differ in important ways, and maintains, moreover, that these agerelated attitudinal disparities are not a function of age (are not life-cycle factors) but are manifestations of enduring generational differences11.. Rigger, in particular, paid attention to the 4th political generation of Taiwanese or the "Strawberry tribe", as she mentioned them in her paper. The political generation born 11. Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism, "Policy Studies 26 (2006): 3.. 10.

(14) after 1968, entered their formative years after 1986 and experienced peaceful transfer of political power in 2000. In that time, it was claimed to be the generation that in the future will change the political development of Taiwan. She analysed their political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations, and one of the resulting outcomes of Rigger's work was the evident generational change between the first three political generations and the 4th political generation with regards to political values, political engagement and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations. When the first three political generations had a closer relationship with politics, the 4th political generation seemed to be less politically engaged and more pragmatic regarding Cross-Strait relations. In focus groups organised by Rigger, young people assessed their political participation even more negatively. The word they used most often was "indifferent" (lengmo, 冷漠).. 政治大 but strongly attached to democracy . In addition, another characteristic of the 4th 立 political generation was their pragmatism towards China and the lack of a high level of In their views, politics was distant and irrelevant (...), they were apathetic about politics, 12. ‧ 國. 學. nationalism.. ‧. However, after Ma's first election in 2008, Taiwan domestic politics started to experience new social and political processes that began to affect the Taiwanese. y. Nat. sit. political landscape. On 6th of November of 2008, that indifferent attitude towards. er. io. politics among young people started to change with the emergence of the "Wild. al. Strawberry Movement" (yecaomeiyundong, 野草莓運動), a student movement that. n. v i n protested against the visit of theC People's Republic ofU h e n g c h i China's ARATS chairman Chen Yunlin ( 陈云林) to Taiwan. In 2011, Shelley Rigger published another paper on generational politics in Taiwan,. entitled "Looking Toward the Future in the Taiwan Strait: Generational politics in Taiwan"13, in which she updated her 2006's paper using data based on TEDS of 2008. One of the amendments was that Rigger mentioned the "Wild Strawberry Movement" (yecaomeiyundong, 野草莓運動). However, instead of discussing the emergence of the. 12. Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism,"Policy Studies 26 (2006): 53. 13 Shelley Rigger, "Looking Toward the future in the Taiwan Strait: Generational politics in Taiwan," SAIS review 31, no.2 (2011): 65-77.. 11.

(15) "Wild Strawberry Movement" (yecaomeiyundong, 野草莓運動), which clearly posed a challenge to her assumptions on the indifferent attitude of young people towards politics, she followed Andy Chang and T.Y Wang's generational model, and framed the "Wild Strawberry Movement" into the "4th political generation" or the "Democratic generation" as she labeled that political generation in that paper. The importance of that student movement was that the protests reopened a debate about where Taiwan’s young generation stands on political issues14.. Later, as a result of the seeds planted by the Wild Strawberry Movement in 2008 and the Anti-Media Monopoly Movement (fanmeitilongduanyundong, 反媒體壟斷運動) in 2012, the Sunflower Movement (Taiyanghua xueyun, 太陽花學運) emerged in 2014.. 政治大 economic performance, which turned out in March 18th with an occupation of the 立. The student protests against Ma's administration, its Mainland policies and poor. Legislative Yuan (Parliament) and lasted for 23 days was considered by some scholars,. ‧ 國. 學. Chen, Duchatel, Wang, as a historical turning point for the contemporary political development of the island and Cross- Strait relations.. ‧. y. Nat. Indeed, the Sunflower Movement demonstrated new political realities and dynamics. sit. among the youth. They seemed to be more engaged in politics and more hopeful about. er. io. their impact in politics as well as displayed a high level of nationalism. This movement. al. n. v i n , clearly posed C a challenge 4th political generation. h e n gtocRigger's hi U. led by students, 56% of the participants were students, and in particular 73% were college students. 15. What is clear is that the reason the Sunflower Movement flourished was due to the enduring generational differences. The students involved in the movement seemed to have new political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations.. 14. Shelley Rigger, "Looking Toward the future in the Taiwan Strait: Generational politics in Taiwan," SAIS review 31, no.2 (2011): 66 15 Chenwanqi, "shuilai xueyun? taiyanghuaxueyun canyu zhedejibenren koutuxiang" PTS News Network July 14, 2014, http://pnn.pts.org.tw/main/2014/07/14/%E8%AA%B0%E4%BE%86%E3%80%8C%E5%AD% B8%E9%81%8B%E3%80%8D%EF%BC%9F%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E8%8A%B1%E 5%AD%B8%E9%81%8B%E5%8F%83%E8%88%87%E8%80%85%E7%9A%84%E5%9F%B A%E6%9C%AC%E4%BA%BA%E5%8F%A3%E5%9C%96%E8%B1%A1/. 12.

(16) 1.2 Purpose of the study The Sunflower Movement's emergence in 2014, as a result of a new socio-economic and political context, and in particular the involvement of the young generation in politics, posed new scholarly questions that need to be addressed.. According to Andy Chang and T.Y Wang's generational model, the history of Taiwan has been shaped by historic events that have led to the emergence of political generations. Therefore, whether the Sunflower Movement is considered as a turning point for the contemporary political development of Taiwan as well as an important formative event or a critical situation, can it be conceived a catalyst for the emergence of a new political generation? Secondly, if the students involved in the movement. 治政大it emerged and What are their this represent a new political generation? if so, why has political values and attitudes立 towards Cross-Strait relations? Lastly, if it turns out that a. seemed to display new political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations, does. ‧ 國. 學. political generation has emerged from the Sunflower movement, how should it be explained with regard to the evolution of the Rigger's Democratic generation, the Wild. ‧. Strawberry movement and the Sunflower Movement's generation? In addition, through analysing the political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations of the young. Nat. sit. y. people who participated in the Sunflower Movement, in particular, university students,. er. io. this thesis not only seeks to understand their political values but also attempts to foresee and consider the future of Cross-Strait relations with the aim of promoting peace in the. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Strait of Taiwan. Will this political generation impact Cross-Strait Relations? The main. engchi. goal of this thesis is to attempt to answer all these questions. It is worth mentioning, that the discussion of the Wild Strawberry Movement is needed for two reasons. Shelley Rigger did not explain its location regarding the existing political generations and it was a vital for the emergence of the Sunflower Movement in 2014.. As noted previously, this research will primarily study the young generation that participated in the Sunflower Movement (They were born between late 1980s and 1990s). The reason being that the Sunflower Movement was consisted mostly college students who were in their formative years, 18-25 years old, and as will be explained later, is a critical period in which political values and attitudes emerge. In addition, the future lies in the hands of young people, they are the ones who react to new conditions. Older people are, on the whole, too set in their ways to be responsible for social or 13.

(17) political change, so most long-term change comes about by way of generational replacement 16 . On the other hand, when it comes to the understanding of political engagement, political socialisation studies among the youth assume that if we can find out more about the political orientations of young people, this already offers us a glimpse of the future. A clear illustration of this logic can be found in Russell Dalton's work on the evolution of political trust. Dalton noted that back in the 1950s, multivariate analysis showed a negative relation between age and trust (indicating that older people are significantly more distrustful). However, in the most recent studies, this relation has been turned around, as younger age cohorts now are clearly more distrustful than older respondents. According to Dalton, this finding allows us some grounds for speculation about future trends.17. 治政大 In addition, in the Taiwanese context, at the moment, policymakers are most sensitive to 立 who form the bulk of political elite and the active the preferences of older Taiwanese, ‧ 國. 學. electorate.18 However, to foresee the future scenarios of domestic politics and CrossStrait relations, it is important to take into account the political values and attitudes of. ‧. the young generation as they will become the future political elite and the active electorate. In the future, the political centre of gravity will shift towards today's young. Nat. sit. y. leaders and voters. If these two's groups preferences diverge, we may see a shift in. er. io. Taiwan's policy direction. Alternatively, the views of the young might come to resemble those of the older generation once they reach a similar age19. Thus, studying young. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. generation's political values and attitudes is crucial to anticipate the future of the. engchi. political development in Taiwan and Cross-Strait relations.. 1.3 Guiding Hypothesis In 2014, the Sunflower Movement was a result of a specific socio-economic and political context. The students, who participated in it, had different political values and attitudes towards domestic politics and Cross-Strait relations to the preceding generations. Therefore, this thesis hypothesises that the students became into the 16. Marc Hooghe, "Political socialization and the future of politics," Acta politica 39 (2004):333. Ibid, 333. 18 Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism," Policy Studies 26 (2006): 3. 19 Ibid, 3. 17. 14.

(18) Sunflower's political Generation, a political generation that emerged from the Sunflower Movement. This political generation has a set of political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations that differ from the preceding political generations. They believe in participatory democracy, they are more social and politically engaged, they have a clear Taiwanese self-identity, they are in favour of independence of Taiwan, They support Pan-Green parties or new parties and they don't have good opinions about the PRC's government. As a consequence of these political values and attitudes, they have the potential to shape domestic politics and ultimately Cross-Strait relations.. 1.4 Variables It is necessary to establish the set of variables that are going to guide this thesis.. 政治大 thesis will evaluate the different 立 political values and attitudes towards domestic politics. Therefore, the dependent variable is the Sunflower political Generation. In addition, this. and Cross-Strait relations of Sunflower Generation such as its self-identity, "Taiwanese. ‧ 國. 學. nationalism", partisanship, Independence vs Unification issue, democracy, political engagement, political socialisation and opinions on China.. ‧ y. Nat. The independent variables that have caused the emergence of the Sunflower generation. sit. have been the universities students' political socialisation and political learning in social. er. io. activism prior to the emergence of the movement, domestic politics, and in particular,. al. n. v i n C h of the studentsUand Cross-Strait relations. The the living standards and expectations engchi intervening variable is Taiwan's democratic political regime. See research framework in. those related to the economic performance of Taiwan and those that have direct affected. Appendix.. 1.5 Literature Review on Political generations and Political socialization When studying any social phenomena, it is important to apply theoretical tools and select the most suitable theory or theories. To facilitate our understanding, when analysing the Sunflower's political Generation and its political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations, it is evidently multi-faced and this requires a multitheoretical foundation. Two theories are necessary in this instance. Firstly, a theory to explain the generational aspect of the entity of study. Secondly, another theory to 15.

(19) explain how political values and attitudes are acquired by the youth as well as how they are maintained and can consequently shape the political reality.. Political generational theory, that will enable us to understand the generational aspect of the Sunflower's political generation, will primarily based upon Karl Mannheim's Problem of Generations. However, the notion of political generation that is operated in this thesis is based on the definition provided by Michael X Delli Carpini's work entitled Stability and Change in American Politics. In addition, to analyse the evolution of Taiwanese political generations, this thesis will rely on the generational model proposed by Andy Chang and T.Y Wang, which is in the paper entitled "Taiwanese or Chinese? Independence or Unification? An analysis of Generational differences in. 治政 society into different political generations. Furthermore,大 Shelley Rigger's works entitled 立generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism and Taiwan's rising rationalism: Taiwan", as it provides a conceptual framework that systematically divides Taiwanese. ‧ 國. 學. Looking Toward the future in the Taiwan Strait: Generational politics in Taiwan. will. be the starting point as it offers an extensive analysis of the different political. relations.. ‧. generations of Taiwanese and their political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait. sit. y. Nat. er. io. Political socialisation theory will be the tool to comprehend how the Sunflower political's generation acquired their values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations.. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Greensberg's work entitled Political socialization provides the theory used in this thesis.. engchi. This thesis will pay attention to three political socialisation agents: state institutions that have shaped political values in Taiwan since the democratisation of Taiwan and in particular since 2000, social movements prior to the emergence of the Sunflower movement and the Sunflower movement as a formative event. To study the importance of social movements as agents of political socialization, both books entitled East Asian Social Movements: Power, Protest and Change in Dynamic Region and Mobilizations, protests and engagements: Canadian perspectives on Social Movements are crucial.. 1.6 Methodology This research relies upon two different data collection techniques. The primary data will be in-depth interviews of participants of the Sunflower Movement, university students. 16.

(20) The majority will be between 18-25 years old. 21 university students from different universities National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, Yangming University, National Sun-Yat Sen University, Taipei Medical School, National Dong Hwa University and National Taiwan Normal University were interviewed in April of 2014. The interviews cover issues that are related to their political socialisation, political values and attitudes towards domestic politics and Cross-Strait relations, such as self-identity, Taiwanese nationalism, partisanship, independence vs unification, democracy, political engagement, political socialisation and opinions on China.. The political values noted previously are analysed in this thesis because in order to demonstrate the emergence of the Sunflower's political generation, this research will. 治政大generations. Rigger analysed Shelley Rigger in her publications on Taiwanese political 立 such as self-identity, partisanship, independence vs political values and attitudes. compare the Sunflower's political generation with the 4th political generation studied by. ‧ 國. 學. unification and opinions on China because they can help to understand the levels of nationalism in Taiwan. Therefore, this thesis has to study the same political values and. ‧. attitudes that Rigger tackled. However, this thesis adds three other political values and attitudes such as democracy, political engagement, and political socialisation. The. Nat. sit. y. Sunflower Movement, to some extent, challenged the existing ideas of democracy.. er. io. Therefore, knowing Sunflower political generation's ideas on democracy is crucial to understand any possible political dynamic in Taiwan. The students who were involved. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. in the Sunflower Movement seemed to be more both political and social engaged than. engchi. the older generations. Thus, understanding why they are more politically and socially engaged is important to compare the 4th political generation and this new political generation. Finally, the political socialisation of the young involved in the Sunflower Movement seemed to be different from those from the 4th political generation. For those involved in the 4th generation, the family and state institutions such as the school and university played a fundamental role in their political socialisation. On the contrary, for the Sunflower's political generation, family played to some degree an important role on political socialisation, but universities, in particular, professors and peer groups were crucial.. The decision to use qualitative data and in-depth interviews is resultant of the lack of detail analysis in the existing official. Surveys and questionnaires conducted by official 17.

(21) institutions are helpful to explore large-scale trends. However, if we want to explore the meaning of large-scale trends, a qualitative approach is necessary. In-depth interviews can be a helpful tool to provide this second deeper layer.. The official data on political large-scale trends in Taiwan provided by the Electoral Study Centre of NCCU will be used as a tool to support the results of in-depth interviews.. Regarding secondary data, this thesis will rely upon different materials such as books, ejournals, magazines and websites.. 1.7 Chapters. 立. 政治大. The thesis will have 11 chapters. The first one is an introduction to the topic, the second. ‧ 國. 學. chapter provides the thesis's theoretical framework, which is based on two main theories: Political generation studies and political socialisation. It also discusses the. ‧. limitations of this thesis as well as how these theories can be applied to the case study of the Sunflower's Generation.. sit. y. Nat. io. er. The third chapter establishes the existing the first three political generations in Taiwan. It is worth mentioning that this chapter is not relevant for this thesis, however, it is. n. al. Ch. needed as it provides historical coherence.. engchi. i n U. v. The fourth chapter analyses the 4th political generation and its political values and attitudes towards Cross-Strait relations.. The fifth chapter discusses the Wild Strawberry Movement and its location regarding the existing political generations. The sixth chapter provides the Sunflower Movement history as well as it explains the variables that contributed to its emergence. In addition, it also discusses the importance of the Sunflower Movement as a destabilising historical movement and as a consequence why it can be considered as being a catalyst of the Sunflower political generation.. 18.

(22) The seventh chapter analyses the Sunflower political generation's political values and attitudes towards Cross Strait Relations, and it particular, the self-identity, "Taiwanese nationalism", partisanship, independence vs unification issue, democracy, political engagement, political socialisation and opinions on China.. The eighth chapter compares the political values and attitudes of the 4th political generation and the Sunflower's political generation.. The ninth chapter studies the Sunflower's political generation's implication for CrossStrait relations. And the conclusion provides with the conclusions of this research.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 19. i n U. v.

(23) 2. Chapter 2 - Theoretical framework The thesis is based on two main theories: political generation theory and political socialisation theory. It is vital to understand different key concepts of these theories and how they are connected. This chapter is divided into three sections:. The first part develops political generational theory, based Karl Mannheim. It also discusses the importance of political generations as well as why political generations struggle within the nation-state. It also analyses why destabilising historical events or formative events are critical for the emergence of political generations. In addition, this section also includes Andy Chang and T.Y Wang's generational model as well as Shelley Rigger's work on Taiwanese political generations.. 治政大 The second section, discusses the notion of political socialisation. It will pay attention 立 agents such as state institutions (school, universities), to the role political socialisation ‧ 國. 學. which are related to the development of political generations. Furthermore, it analyses the relationship between youth and social movements as political learning agents.. ‧. Finally, this chapter provides the limitations of using the theories commented above as. Nat. n. al. er. io. its political values and attitudes towards Cross Strait relations. 2.1 Political Generations Theory. Ch. sit. y. the intrinsic scholarly limitations of studying the Sunflower Movement's Generation and. engchi. i n U. v. 2.1.1 The intellectual development of the concept of Generation Traditionally, from a sociological approach, the concept of generation can be studied according Comte and Dilthey's theoretical framework. Despite their theoretical differences, they developed the foundations of the concept of generation in the 19th century. In the late 19th century, authors such as Justin Dromel, Antoine Cournot and Giuseppe Ferrari, also focused their research on the study of generations and its political implications.. The French scholar Auguste Comte, between 1830 and 1840, was the first to study generations in history applying a scientific framework, highly influenced by a positivist worldview. Comte examined systematically the succession of generations as the moving force in historical progress. He believed that the tempo of the progress was determined 20.

(24) by the tempo of generational change. Social progress exists only, according to Comte, insofar as it is based on death, as the eternal renewer of human society20.. On the other hand, in the late 1860's, the German scholar Wilhelm Dilthey based his studies on generations using a historical romantic approach. In his study of German romanticism, he discovered that many of its most important representatives were born in adjoining years (Schlegel in 1767, Hölderlin in 1770, Novalis and Tieck in 1773). This observation led him to hypothesise that the absorption of formative impressions during adolescence tends to transmit for life to a great number of individuals of the same age a fund of relatively homogenous philosophical and social guidelines. Subsequently, Dilthey believed that formative impressions, which people receive during a rather short. 治政大 .. period of time in adolescence, can hardly be thrown off later on through strong impressions of an opposite nature. 立. 21. ‧ 國. 學. Also in the decade of the 1860's, the French author Justin Dromel did a taxonomy of generations based on the age of the individuals. His theory was purely based on. ‧. statistics and some elements of the political aspects of society. According to Dromel, birth can be considered at the age of 21 years, adulthood at the age of 25, a phase of. Nat. 65 to 70, men suffer - and this is a sharp. er. io. activity ceases towards the 65. From. sit. y. progress, between 25 and 40 years. The political life, he stated, lasts until the 70, but. observation of Dromel - the filial influence changes, when before the son lived from the. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. father's ideas, now, the father lives from the son's ambitions22.. engchi. Antoine Cournot introduced some analysis elements based on a more rationalist approach23. According to Cournot every generation transmits through education some ideas which are followed, and through that education act or transmission is verified, the educative generation is still in presence, while still suffer the influence of all the survivors of the last generation that have not ceased of being notably involved into. 20 21. Hans Jaeger, "Generations in history," Geschichte und Gessellschaft 3 (1977): 275. Ibid, 276.. 22. Julian Marías, El método histórico de las generaciones. (Madrid: Revista de Occidente, 1961), 41.. 23. Marco. A. Martín, "The theory of generations in Ortega y Gasset: a reading from the 21st century," Tiempo y espacio 20. (2008): 100.. 21.

(25) politics, in the movement of ideas and business. The youth that is initiating in the world also preserve the footprint of their childhood, which is caused by the conversation with the older24.. The Italian philosopher, Giuseppe Ferrari, who was strongly influenced by positivists ideas of Comte and Vico, discussed the importance of generations when understanding the progress of history. He pointed out that every 30 years there is a significant change with regards to the ideas of the social groups. Each generation struggle to impose its own convictions with the aim of breaking the old social order.25. In the early 1920's Mannheim developed further generational theory, being considered. 治政 Marías, Gramsci and Abrams also contributed to the 大 understanding of the notion of 立 generations . the founder of the modern approach. Later, other scholars such as Ortega y Gasset, 26. ‧ 國. 學. .. 2.2 Karl Mannheim and political Generations. ‧. As Karl Mannheim stated in his article "The Problem of Generations" (1952), the. y. Nat. problem of generations is important enough to merit serious consideration. It is one of. sit. the indispensable guides to an understanding of the structure of social and intellectual. n. al. er. io. movements. Its practical importance becomes clear as soon as one tries to obtain a more. v. exact understanding of the accelerated pace of social change characteristic of our time.27. Ch. engchi. i n U. The social phenomenon "generation" represents nothing more than a particular kind of identity of location, embracing related "age groups" embedded in a historical-social process. The nature of generation location is determined by the way in which certain patterns of experience and thought tend to be brought into existence by the natural data. Julian Marías, El método histórico de las generaciones. (Madrid: Revista de Occidente, 1961): 48. 24. 25. Marco. A. Martín, "The theory of generations in Ortega y Gasset: a reading from the 21st century,", Tiempo y espacio 20. (2008): 101. 26. Carmen Leccardi and Carles Feixa, "El concepto de generación en las teorías sobre la. juventud," Última decada 34 (2011): 14. Karl Mannheim, "The Problem of Generations". In Essays on the sociology of knowledge, ed. Paul Kecskemeti, 276-320.(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul LTD, 1952), 287. 27. 22.

(26) of the transition from one generation to another28. In addition, generations have to two main characteristics: members of the same generations are born at the same time and in the same cultural context. However, as Mannheim pointed out, sharing a temporal and spatial location makes a group of individuals an age cohort, not a generation. The location as such only contains potentialities which may materialise, or be suppressed, or become embedded in other social forces and manifest themselves in modified form. When pointing out that mere co-existence in time did not even suffice to bring about community of generation location. In order to share the same generation location, i.e in order to be able passively to undergo or actively to use the handicaps and privileges inherent in a generation location, one must be born within the same historical and cultural region. Generation as an actuality, however, involves even more than mere co-. 治政大nexus may be described as constitute generation as an actuality. This additional participation in the common立 destiny of these historical and social units .. presence in such a historical and social region. A further concrete nexus is needed to 29. ‧ 國. 學. According to Mannheim, the formative years which are the those that correspond to. ‧. youth, are the critical moment for the emergence of generations as its the period of formation of the "natural view the world" that may or may not lead to the actuality of a. Nat. sit. y. generation. Mannheim stressed the importance of a formative event, which is likely to. er. io. be a traumatic event or catastrophe that uniquely cuts off a generation its past and separate its from the future30. For this reason, people who are between 18 and 25 years. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. of age when destabilising events occur can coalesce to form a generation.31. engchi. However, not all the members of the same age cohort perceive or experience events in the same way. Mannheim in order to explain such a phenomena, discussed the idea of generational units. This notion represents a much more concrete bond than the actual generation as such. Youth experiencing the same concrete historical problems may be 28. Karl Mannheim, "The Problem of Generations". In Essays on the sociology of knowledge, ed. Paul Kecskemeti, 276-320.(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul LTD, 1952), 292. 29 Ibid, 303. 30 Daniela Koleva "Remembering socialism, living post-socialism: Gender, generation and ethniticy". In Peripheral Memories: Public and private forms of experiencing the past and narrating the past, ed. Elisabeth Boesen, Fabianne Lentz, Michel Margue, Denis Scuto, Renée Wagener, 219-239 (Bielefeld; Transcript Historie, 2012), 229. 31 Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism". Policy Studies 26 (2006), 12.. 23.

(27) said to be part of the same actual generation; while those groups within the same actual generation which work up the material of their common experiences in different specific ways, constitute separate generation units32.. 2.3 Why do political generations clash within the nation-state? One of the main critiques that can be done to Mannheim's work on political generations is that he did not elaborate on why new political generations clash with older ones within the nation-state and why political generations can lead to social change.. One of the main assumptions regarding the inter-generational struggle is that new political generations tend to clash with older political generations because new political. 政治大 generations. Generations constitute 立 a new “Self” of the nation-state against an internal generations seek more political power, which is hegemonised by "older" political. “Other,” a previous generation. Roskin of Kuhn’s paradigmatic transitions established. ‧ 國. 學. that the ontology of a nation-state is remade to some degree by an emerging generation against the one in power. Such transitions are characterised less by a “passing of the. ‧. torch” than a contentious period of intense, negative identification struggles.33. y. Nat. sit. Regarding generational struggles between new political generations and the old, such. er. io. transitions come about through two mechanisms. The first of these is the so-called. al. n. v i n the second is a component of C intense h e intergenerational n g c h i U struggle—sometimes termed “revolutionary” or “destructive.” “formative experience,” anomaly, or social moment that creates the generational cohort; 34. When explaining the importance of formative events as phenomenon that can shape political generations during their formative years, Anthony Giddens's notion of critical situations is vital for their understanding. A critical situation is a set of circumstances which -for whatever reason- radically disrupts accustomed routines of daily life. Conventions and social codes maybe be abandoned and new ones produced on spot. 32. Karl Mannheim, "The Problem of Generations". In Essays on the sociology of knowledge, ed. Paul Kecskemeti, 276-320.(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul LTD, 1952), 304. 33 Brent J. Steele and Jonathan M. "Introduction: The Evolution of Generational Analysis and International Theory" In Theory and Application of the "Generation" in International Relations, ed. Brent J. Steele and Jonathan M, Acuff. 3-25, (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2012), 10. 34 Ibid, 26.. 24.

(28) Under crisis, agency comes to the fore, often reshaping prevailing social structures.35 In addition, these critical situations are also able to create a new identity due to the fact that the "new" cannot accommodate itself in the existing identities. Generational analysis scholars see these as catastrophes or crises that provide the “exogenous shocks” that make possible a new identity. Yet in two important respects, the shocks may be endogenous as well. First, such shocks are “made possible” because of the sedentary thinking of a generation in power, which fails to see data that disconfirms its implementation of policies. Second, an incoming generation can then connect such crises to the policies, the mindset, and the agency of a generation in power. Identities can change, but they can also remain static for periods of time, as Kratochwil reminds us.36. 治政大 shocks" are important for Another scholar who is critical to understand why "exogenous 立generation is the British sociologist Philip Abrams. The the development of a political ‧ 國. 學. British sociologist contributed to the field studying Mannheim's ideas and looking, in particular, at the role of identity in generations. As Mannheim, Abrams also believed. ‧. that historical and institutional discontinues are important for the development of a generation37. To prove that, in his book Historical sociology, he brought out Bereleson's. Nat. sit. y. work, which suggested that a whole political generation may have been developing for. er. io. whom the socio-economic problems of their youth served as bases for permanent political forms... Presumably an age generation can be transformed by political events. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. and social condition...a generation that retains its allegiances and norms while. engchi. succeeding generations are moving in another direction38.. Adams also suggested that the individuality and society are socially constructed. The identity - is considered as the link between both individual and society's dimensions and has to be studied within the historical and social framework. Subsequently, Abrams 35. Christopher G. A. Bryant, David Jary, Anthony giddens: Critical assemsents ( New York:Taylor and Francis, 1997), 312. 36 Brent J. Steele and Jonathan M. "Introduction: The Evolution of Generational Analysis and International Theory" In Theory and Application of the "Generation" in International Relations, ed. Brent J. Steele and Jonathan M. ACuff. 3-25, (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2012), 11. 37 Carmen Leccardi and Carles Feixa, "El concepto de generación en las teorías sobre la juventud," Última decada 34 (2011):19. 38. Abrams Philips, Historical Sociology (Somerset: Open books publishing ltd, 1982), 258.. 25.

(29) defined identity as the consciousness in which history of the individual life and social history are interwoven 39 . In addition, when expanding the notion of identity and generations, he also suggested that if a new sociological generation is to emerge, a new configuration of social actions, the attempt of individuals to construct identity must coincide with major and palpable historical experiences in relation to which new meanings can be assembled. (...) But it is historical events that seem to provide the crucial opportunities for constructing new versions of such meanings. Such opportunities are seized, in turn, most avidly and imaginatively by those who are most actively in the market for such meanings (identities). Hence the peculiar connection of youth and generations. And the more the overall configuration of a society leaves the mode of entry new individuals open to negotiation the more likely it is that those. 治政大 of their distinctiveness as predecessors; will make something culturally or politically youth. Such attempts create立 the world of youth as a stage of life history. But sometimes individuals will put together a sense of themselves as being historically unlike their. ‧ 國. 學. such attempts also seize on historical experiences, of war, revolution, crisis or liberation for example. (...) an age group located at such a moment in history can create a new. ‧. social generation. Life history and world history coalesce to transform each other. Identity is made within the double construction of time40.. sit. y. Nat. er. io. According to Abrams, one generation, in the sociological sense, is the period of time in which one identity is constructed based on the resources and meanings that are socially. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. and historically available. Therefore, a sociological generation do not follow each other. engchi. based on a recognisable temporal cadence established by succession of biological generations. Hence, there is not a normalised time to measure and predict their rhythm, as a result, from a sociological perspective, one generation can last 10 years or centuries.41. 39. Carmen Leccardi and Carles Feixa, "El concepto de generación en las teorías sobre la. juventud,", Última decada 34 (2011):18. 40 Abrams Philips, Historical Sociology (Somerset: Open books publishing ltd, 1982), 256. 41. Carmen Leccardi and Carles Feixa, "El concepto de generación en las teorías sobre la. juventud, "Última decada 34 (2011):18.. 26.

(30) To explain the intergenerational struggle, Thomas Kuhn's theory on "Paradigm shift" can enable us to understand such a phenomenon. It serves as the perfect analogy to explain why "new" political generations struggle with the "old" ones. When researchers, operating under their old paradigm, begin to notice that their empirical findings do not come out the way they are supposed to, disquiet enters into the profession. Anomalies or counter instances crop up in the research and throw the old paradigm into doubt. Then an innovator looks at the data from another angle, reformulates the basic framework, and introduces a new paradigm. Significantly these innovators tend to be younger men who, "being little committed by prior practice to the traditional rules of normal science, are particularly likely to see that those rules no longer define a playable game and to conceive another set that can. 治政大 demands its separate world Now there are two competing, antithetical paradigms; each 立 partly to talk through each other because they are view. The discussants are bound. replace them.42 The new paradigm does not triumph immediately and automatically.. ‧ 國. 學. looking at the same data from differing angles. The new paradigm makes progress, however, because it claims it can solve the problems that have led the old one to a. ‧. crisis. The new paradigm makes particular headway among younger workers. The old practitioners may be beyond conversion; they simply die out. This "paradigm shift" is. Nat. sit. two opposing camps 43 . When analysing the Sunflower. er. the. io. victory for one of. y. what Kuhn calls a "scientific revolution," and these "revolutions close with a total. Movement and its political generation, it is interesting to observe how the Sunflower. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Movement displayed a new way to understand politics. It can be argued that what the. engchi. student movement questioned was the existing "paradigm" that does not seem convincing for them. Therefore, Sunflower Movement's bottom line was a "paradigm shift" that led them to challenge the social and political status quo hegemonised by "old" politics embodied in the current KMT.. 2.4 Defining the concept of political generation Regarding the existing literature on political generations, the concept of political generations has been criticised by being ambiguous. It can be argued that values and 42. Michael Roskin, "From Pearl Harbor to Vietnam: Shifting generational paradigms and foreign policy", Political Science Quarterly 89, no. 3 (1974): 563. 43 Ibid, 565.. 27.

(31) attitudes can differ depending on the individuals. It might be possible that some members of a generation will have similar attitudes and values regarding religion, family or work life as a result of a formative event, but, not necessarily have to share similar political views. Despite Mannheim discussed the concept of generation unit to explain the possible differences among members of the same cohort when experiencing the same historical event, yet Mannheim did not clarify how values operate. Therefore, members of a generation can share same social values but not political ones. To highlight and overcome that theoretical problem, Lucien Febvre suggested that when analysing and applying the concept of generation is necessary to differ them according to their nature: social, religious, or political.44. 治政 Mannheim's assumption that points out the importance大 of the impact of destabilising historical events during the立 formative years as a key factor for the emergence of a This thesis assumes the existence of a political generation as well as it validates. ‧ 國. 學. political generation and its political identity. However, to discuss political generations according to Mannheim's framework is necessary to go further. It is also worth. ‧. mentioning that not all the historical events can lead generations to become a political generation. Therefore, to become a political generation, the members have to share a set. Nat. sit. y. of similar political values and attitudes as well as a shared sense of identity as a product. er. io. of an unique historical event and context. In other words, there has to exist a sense of homogeneity among the members of the political generation regarding the. n. al. Ch. understanding of the political life.. engchi. i n U. v. To describe clearly, what a political generation entails, not only is necessary to bring out Mannheim and Abrams's theory but also Delli Carpini's work. The latter, influenced by Mannheim's theory, described a political generation as group of individuals, similar in age, who share a general set of political socialisation experiences leading to the development of shared political orientations that distinguish them from other age groups in society. People of a similar age tend to be exposed to shared historical, social, and political stimuli. A shared generational outlook develops when an age group experiences a decisive political event in its impressionable years—the period from late adolescence to early adulthood when people approach or attain voting age—and begins 44. Hans Jaeger. "Generations in history", Geschichte und Gessellschaft 3 (1977): 284.. 28.

(32) to think more seriously about politics. At the same time, younger people have less clearly defined political beliefs, which makes them more likely to be influenced by key societal events.45 2. 5 Generational knowledge, political socialisation, youth and social movements. Once the notion of political generation has been thoroughly discussed, it is also important to study how these generations acquire their political values and attitudes, and in particular, the young generation, since the Sunflower's political generation is made up mostly of 18-25 years olds. It is vital that we understand the political learning porcess of the Sunflower's political generation. If we know how they acquired their political values and if they can hold and maintain these values over time, we will be able to foresee their political behaviour in the future regarding domestic and Cross-Strait relations.. 政治大 This section examines how立 knowledge becomes generational knowledge or how youth. acquires their political values. The Sunflower's political generation is a very interesting. ‧ 國. 學. case of political socialisation because it has been formed due two main factors: a formative event and a political socialisation given by agents such as university. ‧. professors, peer groups and social movements.. y. Nat. sit. In the field of political socialisation theory, two major debates have emerged. The first. n. al. er. io. attempts to grasp how young generations are socialised into the political environment. i n U. v. and where the political values are acquired, while the second discusses how long their values can last.. Ch. engchi. Regarding the first debate, there are two main competing theories, the conflict theory, which is based on Mannheim's work, and assumes that the formative years are the critical time in which values are developed and acquired as a result of destabilising historical events and the second emphasises political socialisation as learning process, which is given by the social order, in which older generations pass on of norms and traditions to the youth46. In that direction, Dawson and Prewitt47 and Langton48 pointed. 45. Michael X. Delli Carpini, Stability and Change in American Politics (New York: New York University Press, 1986) 46 J.J Arnet, " Broad and Narrow Socialization: the family in the context of cultural theory," Journal of marriage and the Family 57, no.3 (1995): 617-628.. 29.

(33) out that during the process of political socialisation, not only the older generation can pass on of the norms but also formal environments such as the school, governmental institutions or informal environments such as the peer group.. Greenberg defines. political socialisation as the process by which the individuals acquires attitudes, beliefs and values relating to the political system of which he is a member to his own role as citizen within that political system.49. During the democratisation of Taiwan, and in particular between 2000 and 2008, agents such as the school, universities and state institutions played a fundamental role in the political socialisation of the youth. This is especially true in the promotion of values such as democracy and a Taiwanese self-identity. With the political and socioeconomic. 治政大ideals of liberal democracy, started to teach new western-influenced values and the 立 excessive governmental domination. In 2000, when including the doctrine of reducing changes that Taiwan's democratisation brought, most of the schools and colleges, 50. ‧ 國. 學. the DPP took the office, it also promoted the "Taiwanization" of the island through the educational curricula, encouraging teachers to discuss Taiwan as the "homeland".51 The. ‧. importance of this educational process was crucial for the political development of Taiwan, and in particular for the emergence of new political values and attitudes among. Nat. sit. y. the youth. The school curricula and textbooks were served to intentionally transmit. er. io. selective knowledge, history, and culture in support of dominant and social and political groups which helped to validate the existing power structure. In addition, Raymond. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Williams via Chen suggested that historical and cultural ratification of the social order. engchi. and are important element of the "hegemonic culture" which defines social reality for most in a society".52. Demartini suggested that theoretically speaking, the application of Mannheim's theory on formative events as a process of political learning can collide with political 47. Richard Dawson and Kenneth Langton, Political Socialization (New York: Oxford University press, 1969) 48 Kenneth P, Langton, Political Socialization, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969) 49 E,S Greensberg. "Consensus and dissent: Trends in political socialization research" in Political Socialization. ed. E.S Greensberg. 1-16. (New York: The Atherton Press,1970),3. 50 Ya Chen-Su. "Political ideology and Taiwanese school curricula," Asia Pacific education Review 7, no.1 (2006): 44. 51 Ibid, 46. 52 Ya Chen-Su. "Political ideology and Taiwanese school curricula," Asia Pacific education Review 7, no.1 (2006): 46.. 30.