Civility and its discontents: Subway Etiquette, Civic Values, and Political Subjectivity in Global Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System is instrumental to both the reconstruction of a collective identity and the development of a renewed political subjectivity, with which the Taiwanese establish themselves as autonomous, law-abiding citizens vis-á-vis a historically repressive state on the one hand, and enlightened, worthy members in the league of the world’s urban civilizations on the other. The rescaling of the world economy from the scale of nations to one with an increasingly glocalized configuration has enabled the possibility of scale jumping that allows Taipei the city to stand in for Taiwan the nation, thus helping Taiwan break through its isolation and increase its international visibility. Under this circumstance, the civility displayed on the Taipei MRT takes on the significance of an act of performativity. It has come to signify the Taiwanese people’s belonging, in the dual sense of both ‘be-ing’ in a social complex with fellow citizens and ‘longing’ for an identification of oneself in a particular historical present. However, the continuing controversies regarding MRT guidelines also indicate that the rights and responsibilities are not always understood to be equal among individual citizens. The process of civic subject formation is contentious and ongoing.