This volume centres on the creation of varied forms of individual and group identity in Taiwan, and the relationship between these forms of identity, both individual and collective, and patterns of Taiwanese religion, politics, and culture. The contributors explore the Taiwanese people's sense of who they are, attempting to discern how they identify themselves as individuals and as collectives and then try to determine the identity/roles individuals and groups construct for themselves. Ranging from the local essays to the national level and within the larger Chinese cultural/religious universe, these essays explore the complex nature of identity/role and the processes of identity formation which have shaped Taiwan's multileveled past and its many faceted present.

National identity has been an ongoing political issue in Taiwan since the late-1890s. The Construction of National Identity in Taiwan’s Media, 1896-2012 breaks new ground with the most comprehensive analysis of the development of Taiwan’s media and the construction of national identity in Taiwan’s media. Using a variety of media contents including newspapers, opposition magazines, broadcasting radio, news TV stations and the Internet as well as numerous interviews with journalists, senior media staffs and academics, Dr Hsu provides many original insights into the formation of national identity in Taiwan's media. Taiwan's media began to demonstrate a variety of new identities under democratization. Part of this change responded to market conditions as a majority of Taiwan's population stressed their Taiwan identity.

In a descriptive analysis of elitist nationalist ideologies in Taiwan, this study challenges the traditional Western distinction between civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism. Instead, this discussion contends that the fluid historical context must always be taken into account. An overview of nationalist unrest in Taiwan over a century includes Japanese colonization (1895–1945), four decades of martial law (1945–1985), and afterwards (1986–2000).

The new developments across the Taiwan Strait have illuminated the dilemma of the 'One China' policy, which could mislead to inconsistent or even contradictory policies, and result in devastating military confrontation between China and the U.S. and possibly Japan.

This book presents a comprehensive account of the historical development of the Charismatic Movement in Taiwan, placing it within the context of Taiwan’s religious and political history. Judith C. P. Lin unearths invaluable sources of the Japan Apostolic Mission, the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International Formosa Chapter, and Jean Stone Willans’ short stay in Taiwan in 1968. Lin describes and analyzes how the efforts of 1970s charismatic missionaries in Taiwan—including Pearl Young, Nicholas Krushnisky, Donald Dale, Allen J. Swanson, and Ross Paterson—shaped the theological convictions of later Taiwanese charismatic leaders. She also explores significant developments in the Taiwanese Church which contributed to the gradual and widespread recognition of the Charismatic Movement in Taiwan from 1980 to 1995. Lin offers a thorough treatment of history, reconfigures historiography from a Taiwanese perspective, and challenges the academic circle to take seriously the “Taiwanese consciousness” when engaging Taiwan’s history.

Visions of the past are crucual to the way that any community imagines itself and constructs its identity. This edited volume contains the first significant studies of the politics of history education in East Asian societies.

Following a remarkable transition from authoritarian rule to robust democracy, Taiwan has grown into a prosperous but widely unrecognized nation-state for which no uncontested sovereign space exists. Increasingly vigorous assertions of Taiwanese identity expose the fragility of relationships between the United States and other great powers that assume Taiwan will eventually unite with China. Perhaps because of their precarious international position, the Taiwanese have embraced cosmopolitan culture and democratic institutions. The 2014 Sunflower Movement thrust Taiwan’s politics into the global media spotlight, as did the resounding electoral victory of the once-illegal Democratic Progressive Party in 2016. Taiwan in Dynamic Transition provides an up-to-date assessment of contemporary Taiwan, highlighting Taiwan’s emergent nationhood and its significance for world politics. Taiwan’s path has important implications for broader themes and preoccupations in contemporary thought, such as consideration of why political transitions in the aftermath of the Arab Spring have sputtered or failed while Taiwan has evolved into a stable and prosperous democratic society. Taiwan serves as a test case for nation and state building, the formation of national identity, and the emergence of democratic norms in real time.

European-East Asian Borders is an international, trans-disciplinary volume that breaks new ground in the study of borders and bordering practices in global politics. It explores the insights and limitations of border theory developed primarily in the European context to a range of historical and contemporary border-related issues and phenomena in East Asia. The essays presented here question, rather than assume, the various borders between inclusion/exclusion, here/there, us/them, that condition the (im)possibility of translating between histories, cultures and identities. Contributors suggest that the act of translation offers new ways of thinking about how border logics operate, taking on the concept of translation itself as border problematic and therefore raising questions of power and authority, such as who gets to act as a translator, or who benefits from the outcome. The book will appeal not only to upper-level students and scholars with a geopolitical-historical interest in East Asia, but also to those who work in the inter-disciplinary field of border studies and others with an interest more generally in translation and the extent to which theory ‘travels’ across time and space.

Although Christianity has been a minority religion in Chinese societies, Christians have been powerful catalysts of social activism in seeking to establish democracy and rule of law in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and diasporic communities. The chapters gathered in this collection reveal the vital influence of Christian individuals and groups on social, political, and legal activism in Chinese societies. Written from a range of disciplinary and geographical perspectives, the chapters develop a coherent narrative of Christian activism that illuminates its specific historical, theological, and cultural contexts. Analyzing campaigns for human rights, universal suffrage, and other political reforms, this volume uncovers the complex dynamics of Christian activism, highlighting its significant contributions to the democratization of Greater China.