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In this thesis I look at the question of Taiwanese identity by focussing on characteristics that have come to be considered natural human identity attributes worldwide. I look at historical discourses that have depicted and constructed these attributes as essential to the nature of human beings. Biological theory, terminology, modes of classification, and conceptions of human being established in the natural sciences, and imported to the social sciences, have created a general international discursive regime that employs notions of blood relations, lineage, family, nation-ness, race, ethnicity an ongoing constructions and contestations of identity. The discourse on identity as a matter of heritage is echoed in the science of linguistics with the classification of languages into natural family groups. Linguistic group as an identity marker complicates and is complicated by the general discourse on identity also employing “family talk. I try to show that the human being conceived principally as a biological being, became the focus of techniques of population control and institutional reproduction of social subjects in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe, especially with mass education, and that this process was replicated in the industrialization and modernization of Taiwan. In Taiwan, as in Europe, techniques of what Michel Foucault calls “biopower” were deployed in the process of strengthening the productive powers of the nation state in the international struggle of the survival of the national fittest. For Foucault the spatial and temporal patterns of interaction these institutional processes employed created the kind of social subject that is a precondition for capitalist expansion. In addition to the implicit training that modern institutions employ, there are also explicit educational programs that are grounded in scientific and social theories that modern societies propagate in the curricula of public systems of education. The Taiwanese learned that their identities, as Chinese citizens, were determined by blood lineage, that is, by racial association. I will explain that in China and Taiwan these positivistic, essentialist and biological ideas of identity, were picked up from the western biological and social sciences by Chinese intellectuals at the turn of the twentieth century. In combination with Confucian ideas on family these ideas were consciously selected by the Nationalist government in Taiwan and employed in the production of a specific form of Chinese citizenry in Taiwan. Reinforcing deeply entrenched discourses on race, long expressed in historical China, these biological and familial conceptions were deployed for political purposes in education programs designed to legitimise the right of the Nationalist government to rule China and then Taiwan. Finally, the metaphor of biological family that was employed in an understanding of nation-ness in Taiwan has also come to determine thinking about the natural association between languages, nations and races. In the science of linguistics, languages are depicted as having evolved in the same way races do. In these classifications, official national languages, which historically are the dialects of dominant social groups, are determinative of socio-economic class reproduction, being considered the summit to which all speakers of all secondary dialects are compelled to aspire. The question of language education for identity in Taiwan will be examined in light of these preconceptions, processes and programs. I show that language, nation and race have tended to be cast in discourse as naturally combined elements that determine identity. As a result of colonial educational processes these identity terms tend to be understood as both natural attributes and, as naturally adhering to each other. Nationalities, national or official languages, constructed races, and constructed ethnicities tend to be combined in a globalized discourse to produce dominant images of certain societie’s identities. The English language in Taiwan will be shown to be understood as “a white” language. In colonial discourse nations, races, ethnicities and language types have each been imbued with specific values and statuses. Therefore, dominant images that combine these attributes serve to create intra-national and international human hierarchies. In Taiwan, American English has the potential of raising the status of its learners in the national and international hierarchy toward the high point represented by America as the imperial centre. In Language and Symbolic Power (1991) Bourdieu describes attributes that distinguish groups as different forms of symbolic capital. I want to hold that the nation/social space of Taiwan represents one node within a global network where capitalist forces continue to entrench privilege and power of national and international elites whose place in this hierarchy, whose opportunities for material and social advantages, are determined by the relative statuses of their nations, races, ethnicities and languages. “Black”, “brown”, “white” and “yellow” people, speakers of specific official languages, or what are considered derivative dialects, are imbued with a matched set of symbolic forms of capital that have come to have specific social values. These help to determine specific life opportunities in different social settings. I focus on two related settings in Taiwan where expressions of different forms of symbolic capital have significance for Taiwanese identity. The first is the struggle between what have come to be understood as two ethnic groups in the latter half of the twentieth century that I will designate as mainlanders and islanders. The second is the context of English language teaching where certain accents and racial distinctions have come to play a part in the promotion of English as an important form of cultural capital. The struggle between the mainlanders and islanders will be shown to have affected relative opportunities for achieving English skills, to continue class stratification in Taiwan, and to further endanger traditional island cultures and languages.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

This thesis represents a new attempt to use numerous volumes of mostly unpublished diaries, viewed as private forms of ego documents, as the main source for examining identity-centered issues. Using the private diaries of two Taiwanese intellectuals, Chen Wangcheng and Wu Xinrong, I have examined how Taiwanese national consciousness emerged and was reconstructed under the Japanese and Chinese Nationalist rule between 1920 and 1955. The examined cases suggest that a sense of Taiwanese national consciousness was created in the 1920s via an empirical construction, on the one hand, through the working of the politico-social networks, and via an abstract construction through the spread of print-capitalism on the other. Nevertheless, between 1937 and 1945, this multi-dimensional Taiwanese national consciousness was primarily reconstructed by the war development and mobilization, which were also reinforced by war propaganda, such as the discourse of the (greater) East Asian new order, rather than by the Kōminka cultural and religious policies. In other words, the sense of cohesion between the Taiwanese and Japanese was intensified, mainly because they shared a common fate in the cumulative process of warfare. In general, the islanders maintained a double identity as 'Taiwanese/Japanese', with the former being visibly tilted towards the latter during the war. In the early postwar period, the reconstructed Taiwanese national consciousness underwent a further reconstruction caused by the regime change from Japan to China in 1945 and the 2.28 Incident in 1947. The Taiwanese experienced a new imagination of Chinese national consciousness during the regime change, which was later challenged by the misrule of the Nationalist Chinese government and led to the emergence of the bensheng ren (native Taiwanese) consciousness. In nature, the increasing ethnic confrontation between the bensheng ren and waisheng ren (mainlanders), which centered around the conception of 'modernity vs. nationality', mainly resulted from their opposing 'Japanese experiences' and finally led to the outbreak of the 2.28 Incident, which in reverse provided a political focus to materialize the bensheng ren (vs. waisheng ren) identity from outside. In addition, the emerging international Cold War environment enabled the creation of a de facto independent state based on Taiwan-size governance, which internationally had an evident impact on shaping and reshaping the bensheng ren identity.

In Taiwan, the history of aquaculture spans over three hundred years and the breakthroughs in the artificial propagation of finfish and shrimp effectively reduced the industries' reliance on wild fry, thereby stabilizing commercial operations and overcoming the barriers for expansion. Taiwan is located very close to Japan, one of the biggest seafood importers in the world, which has also benefited the development of aquaculture. However, the growing problems of water pollution and the increasingly high environmental costs generated by aquaculture ventures have made Taiwan experience a declining trend in recent years. To overcome those constraints, three main areas are described, which then form the basis of this study. (1). Adjustment of existing production practices - Milkfish culture, one of the most vulnerable sectors suffering from price fluctuation is used as an example to understand both the production cost, market attributes and the ways in which impacts of variations between production and price can be reduced. (2). Improving existing systems - One of the methods to reduce the use of underground water is to use super intensive culture in which high densities are stable and water use minimised, and has been tried in Taiwan for eels. However, the cost and benefits must be evaluated and as most eel products are exported to the Japanese market, it is very important to examine the comparative advantages against other countries. (3). Develop new systems- One of the solutions to the constraints of land-based aquaculture in Taiwan is to develop seawater-based cage culture. This has been developed in a limited degree in Ping-Tong and Pen-Hu counties but the feasibility and profitability have not been investigated. Based on 274 milkfish farms, 63 traditional eel farms, 5 intensive eel farms, 22 cage culture farms and 133 consumers from different zones, constituted the primary data, which combined with other secondary data constructed this investigation. The milkfish sector was not economically sound. Farm size in the categories of 4-<5 ha could appear to be more profitable. Cold weather and unstable in price made this industry more risky. The price was very unstable and strongly correlated to seasonal variation of production. The various forms of average financial appraisal have shown that intensive eel culture has a slight advantage over traditional eel culture. However, traditional eel culture has a higher distribution and the financial advantage of intensive culture is primarily due to the cheaper eel seed. The mass production of eel from China has caused Taiwan to lose the comparative advantage in roasted eel for the Japanese market. Cage culture is a new aquaculture venture in Taiwan. The structure of cages, feed and other facilities still need to be improved. Although Dumerils's Amberjack (Seriola dumerili) and red porgy (Pagrus major) can make higher profits than other species, fish farmers still have great expectation for cobia (Rachycentron canadus). As Taiwan's market is not big enough, there is great hope that the Japanese market can be developed and cobia can become a candidate for sashimi (raw fish). For sustainable development, aquaculture must be economically viable, ecologically sound and socially acceptable. To attain these goals, production and marketing groups, and production area were suggested. Proper administration and management could help the industry to be sustainable.

In order for democracy to perform as it should, the press must provide citizens with a diverse range of information. The democratic process is enhanced, if the press is independent of both the state and the market. A study of the issues in state-press relations and how these relations may prevent the press from performing its democratic function, lies at the centre of this work. In an authoritarian society in transition such as Taiwan, where the press is subjected to state control, these issues are of central importance. This study aims to examine the democratic relationship between the press and politics in Taiwan and its relevance to the democratic process. It focuses on three areas: (1) what is the nature of state control over the press, (2) how have the boundaries of control shifted as the state is faced with a more vigorous civil society influenced by the development of the democratic movement as well as the growing role of market forces, and (3) to what extent the press has played a role in the development of Taiwanese democracy. A multi-method research design is set out in an attempt to understand the changing political and economic role of the press. Intensive library research and a detailed content analysis of administrative records were conducted in order to examine the mechanisms of press control exercised by the party-state over both the mainstream and alternative media. Moreover, an ethnographic approach is used to enable a study of state-press relations which focuses on the reporting of politics. We conclude that the confrontation between the partystate and civil society has altered the close links between the Nationalist Party, the Kuo Min Tang (KMT) and the press. The transformation of state-press relations marks a change from direct control by the party-state to a form of market censorship, with the party-state manipulation of the press shifting from regulation and censorship to news management. In the years before the rule of martial law, the party-state exercised power over the press by means of its licensing of newspapers, giving financial support to the press industry, and seducing proprietors through the provision of political and economic favours. By the late 1980s, the strategies of public relations had become important for a party-state which was undermined by an increasingly aware populace and was faced with a less manageable press. Finally, we suggest that unless newspaper barons are willing to distance themselves from the party-state and divert power to journalists; and the journalists are willing to rely on professional judgement and to energetically pursue facts, the press will exercise little impact on making the party-state more accountable to the public during Taiwan's transition to a democratic society.