Reconstructed nationalism inTaiwan: a politicised and economically driven identity

Abstract

AbstractSince the late 1980s,Taiwan has been engulfed in waves of both democratisation and integration with mainlandChina. These two waves have pulled identity reconstruction inTaiwan in two different directions. In the process of democratisation, a shift to a majoritarian system encouraged aTaiwanese renaissance on the political platform and consequently led to the deconstruction ofChinese identity. On the other hand, in the 1990s, with the high mobility of capital and people across theTaiwanStrait, close economic ties could have put the brakes onTaiwan independence movements. Hence, this paper uses random coefficient models to explore how the democratic transition and increasing cross‐strait relations brought about psychological and structural mechanisms that motivated people to opt for identity change inTaiwan. It also attempts to investigate how people dealt with the dissonance between rising Taiwanese nationalism and the economic interests that deterred a radical Taiwanese identity.